Broken Fairy Tales
by soldiers of the ten kingdoms
Summary: In a world where fairy tales are written history and magic is real, new senshi try to make their own happily ever after...
1. Through the Looking Glass

Episode One: Through the Looking Glass  
  
I'm wishing on a star  
  
To follow where you are  
  
I'm wishing on a dream  
  
To follow what it means  
  
Yellow taxis lined the edges of the sidewalk in neat little lines. Horns blared in the background, but it was drowned out by the sound of people talking, making conversations undistinguishable from the next. The faceless crowd lurched like driven cattle. That's what they were--cattle driven by machines. Except for one girl.  
  
She looked up idly at the crosswalk sign, the little red man blinking back at her. Then she looked at her watch. Dammit, what was the use of going home a few minutes early from work if you were gonna get held back anyway?  
  
In the corner of her eye, she saw something move in the otherwise static traffic. Something red, like cherry wood... gold flashed in the sunlight. She shrugged and assumed it was nothing until she heard a distinct horse's neigh, and someone's voice calling out.  
  
"Arial, Puck, get a move on!"  
  
Her breath caught, she looked back...and found herself the only one doing so. She was staring back at the emotionless faces of the people waiting to walk, just like her. Suddenly her facial expression changed from that of a bored girl on her way to work to one that made the people behind her feel as if they were the ones looking the wrong way. Then the crosswalk sign changed and the little red man turned white. If she had not moved herself, she would have been pushed by the people behind her. The sound of horses' hooves slowly disappeared, fading back into the sound of people talking and irritated drivers waiting to move.  
  
And I wish on all the rainbows that I see  
  
I wish on all the people who really dream  
  
And I'm wishing on tomorrow praying never comes  
  
And I'm wishing on all the loving we've never done  
  
The crowds lessened as she turned down another street. She passed store after store, casually looking at the reflection in the large windows. She saw a girl with straight blond hair and blue eyes--the same face she had seen each morning for every day of her life--with unmemorable facial features and boring clothes, topped off with a white rain slicker.  
  
Her finger tips itched to touch the glass, but she refused to stop and let the people behind her swarm around her like bees. The buildings that she saw in the glass didn't match the ones she was used to seeing every day, when she took the same path on her way home. They were...too bright? It must have been something about the lighting that day.  
  
When she moved away, white-washed castles reflected in the glass windows, the faint shadows of people inside the store dancing across its surface. Clusters of people continued to walk in front of the window as if it were the most common thing the world.  
  
'Finally,' She thought as she reached the street that led to her house. 'I thought today would never end.'  
  
I never thought I'd see  
  
A time when you would be  
  
So far away from home  
  
So far away from me  
  
She made her way down the lane, unaware of the identical houses that flanked either side of the road, which had turned eerily stone-like. The grass tickled at her ankles as she walked--stupid gardener needed to mow more often...  
  
Reaching the door to her house, she fumbled for her keys. Her mind was elsewhere--there was a good book on arthurian lore sitting on the coffee table for her. She needed something...Something, anything to just get off of her mind how painfully boring New York was. Of course she wouldn't notice the castles that replaced the buildings that usually boxed in her houses. Nor the small, winged human that had just flew by, as it was persued by a flock of talking birds. Just an ordinary day in New York.  
  
At last she got her keys out, managed to open the door, and walked inside.  
  
I'm wishing on a star  
  
To follow where you are  
  
I'm wishing on a dream  
  
To follow what it means  
  
Methodically she placed the keys on the hook, shouted to the cook she was home. The cook shouted back with the normal response: her father wouldn't be home until late, dinner would be ready in a half hour. She looked at herself in the mirror and quickly adjusted some rogue hairs sticking to her glossed lips. Suspiciously looking around the room without moving her head, Alice grabbed the book off the coffee table and dashed upstairs before the air could stir.  
  
She made it up the three flights of stairs and to the elusive yet ever- present attic in record time. But this was important, her mind fixed on the mirror she had hidden up here. One of the several, in fact. A full-length panel of glass, a birthday present or something just as silly. Alice took a deep breath, her legs were shaking. She lifted up the dust cover, her face twitching ever so slightly with disgust at the film of dust, and shook it out before meticulously folding it. Setting the folded cloth by her book, she turned to look at the mirror again.  
  
Her reflection.  
  
Alice watched herself breath. Watched dust motes drifting in the stagnate air. Watched blonde hair slide off the white vinyl on her shoulders. She took a step forward and pulled her fist back. She closed her eyes and launched it at the fragile glass.  
  
It didn't hit fragile glass.  
  
Gloved hands gripped her arm, stopping it in mid-flight. Alice opened her eyes and gazed into glassy green ones. It wasn't her reflection. She had chestnut hair and porcelain skin with perfect, doll-like features. Memorable features. Alice opened her mouth to shout when the girl pulled on her arm. Pulling her into the mirror. A piece of paper fluttered out of her pocket a split-second before the coat disappeared, jeans and sandals following. It landed on the floor, writing facing up, reading "call tristan".  
  
Nothing amazing happens here, only the norm.  
  
****************  
  
Broken Fairy Tales: Senshi of the Ten Kingdoms.  
  
Just the beginnings of our little fantasy...helpful reviews are always welcome, and we promise we won't eat your babies if you like the story. ^_^  
  
The chapters of this story are taken directly from a play-by-email by the same name. Each of the writers, including myself, have given consent to having their work published under this name, with due credit.  
  
'Through the Looking Glass', episode one of Broken Fairy Tales, was written by Sushi and Gena. Proof-read and checked for authenticity by Koi. Love you guys.  
  
'Wishing on a Star' was used for the original opening of the Tenth Kingdom, performed by Miriam Stockley. However, the full version which Broken Fairy Tales used was performed by The Cover Girls.  
  
This is a crossover between 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon', and the NBC/Hallmark miniseries 'The Tenth Kingdom', that aired in 1998/1999. 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon' and 'The Tenth Kingdom' do not belong to the people who wrote Broken Fairy tales and we do not claim rights to any of the aforementioned television shows. We do, however, claim rights to our original charcters, the Senshi of the Ten Kingdoms. They are copyrighted to their creators.  
  
are you a fan of sailormoon, the tenth kingdom, or just fairy tales? if you're a great writer and willing to contribute, please visit us at our site: www32.brinkster.com/cwmrpg/broken 


	2. Once Upon a Time

Episode Two: Once Upon a Time  
  
Ten thousand mirrors smiled down at Alice from every direction. Some were smashed, some held visages of things she could only imagine--some of them held her reflections but yet they just weren't her. Something was wrong about them...distorted by an imperfect mirror, so it was an imperfect world...  
  
It went by all too quickly, silver flashing like lightning as she passed through each one. The girl that held her hand looked back and laughed, her eyes glowing emeralds against the dark as she bolted one mirror after another. She was a child, running, laughing through a forest of silver mirrors, and Alice was her new playmate.  
  
But it came to a quick, and mildly painful stop. It was like someone had just unplugged Alice's vital support and left her there to die. In this world, it was twilight, with stars dotting the heavens. The girl was gone.  
  
Her knees gave out from under her. She suppressed the need to vomit with several swallows and beating her head against the ground. Turning her head to the side, she could see grass. A field. Sky. Stars. That was semi- normal. You don't see many fields in New York City. Clouds. Clouds are good.  
  
However.  
  
A strange girl looking like a porcelain doll was not. Neither was being dragged through a mirror.  
  
Then it hit her. She was dreaming. She had to be. It was too much like Through the Looking Glass not to be a dream. Just a girl instead of a bunny. Or something.  
  
"Ugh..." She stood up, immediately regretting it. Her stomach spasmed. emptying it's contents on the green grass. She wiped her pale lips with the back of her hand, which in turn was wiped on the ground.  
  
In the distance, she heard hoof beats.  
  
"The strings of a puppet's marionette is delicate--just like the balance of this world!" A strong voice came from behind her. A long, tall figure--was it a man?--stood there, possibly ten feet away.  
  
Alice had never had psychos in her dreams before. She spun on her heel, eyes wide yet expression still neutral. She pulled her hood up in one fluid motion and stood in a calculatedly submissive pose. "And why do I care about the balance of this world?" she replied, her voice carrying over the night breeze.  
  
"Same reason you should care about looking behind you." He replied gruffly. In the darkness, one could faintly see the wicked smile on his face.  
  
Alice looked behind her. (She's a genius, not faultless.)  
  
He was true to his word. A cross-like object spun toward her, it's metal blades flashing in the upcoming moon. It flew dangerously close to Alice's head, but didn't have any impact. A broken strand of golden hair floated down to Alice's eyelevel. She watched the object with her head tilted down slightly, like a frightened animal.  
  
"Marionette!" The figure called, and black cords erupted from the heart of the cross.  
  
Alice threw herself to the side, rolling in dewed grass, starlight making her white coat shine with ghostly light. Cursing, the shadow jumped into the air and caught the marionette like it was second nature. He looked down at her from where he stood before he was in flight--much like the girl from the mirror, bringing back eerie memories, though they had just occured--the marionette held to the side at his right as he advanced.  
  
She pushed herself to her feet, slipping on the wet grass. "Nice to know that New York isn't the only place with fetish murderers." Her feet slid again, knees knocking together. Her dangled her left hand out enough to catch her if her sandals betrayed her, while her right hand gripped something in her coat pocket. Her eyes narrowed minutely before she launched herself at the man, pepperspray out and functioning, right in his face. To say the least he was startled. He lurched back, a gloved hand over his eyes. He fell backwards, catching himself on his elbow. The other hand held the back of his head, tilting his face down towards his chest.  
  
If Alice was the unsporting type, she might have kicked him while he was down. But no, she decided to make a break for it and dashed off in the direction of the forest.  
  
"Wait....! Wait, dammit!" The figure shouted, but to no avail. He slumped before rising to his feet slowly, using the marionette for support. His voice gave out some, in desperation. "Wait..."  
  
Alice glanced back, the moonlight shining on her hood. For the briefest moment, a faint mark shaped like a P glimmered on her forehead. Her head turned, and she ran into the forest. The marionette sunk into the ground as his eyes widened. "She's...one of us...." And then, his eyes dilated and he began to call her back with renewed vigor. "WAIT! WAIT!"  
  
"No... fucking... way..." she whispered under labored breaths. Her lungs ached already. Alice had never been a track star and didn't know to practice running away from murderers before she got here. Slipping behind a tree, she stopped to catch her breath. Her head was almost touching her knees as her chest heaved, sucking in air. Hopefully there weren't any new obstacles here.  
  
"'Allo."  
  
So much for that idea.  
  
He said that to her as he hung upside down from the tree she was nestled under. His legs suspended him from a particularly strong looking tree branch. Gently, he slipped his gloved finger the gap between her knees and head and poked her forehead. "Well whatcha know, the sign's gone now."  
  
Alice's eyes were easily the size of teacup saucers. She did the only thing she could think of, she grabbed the man's arm and yanked with all her body weight, sending him quite unceremoniously to the ground. "Why don't you find someone else to rape?!" She seemed to have forgotten that she'd emptied half a canister of pepperspray in this man's face.  
  
He hit the ground with a dull 'thud.' And then he started to laugh, which was deep and rich, and not unkindly. In fact, he was laughing so hard he put his hand over his stomach. His large blue eyes opened as he tilted his head to look at her, his neck aligned with her foot. "I'm not going to rape you." He said to her.  
  
The moon rolled out lazily behind a cloud, sending a pool of moonlight over the man. Something immediately was not right about him--his eyes were large and glass-like, permanently a blazing blue. His skin was too dark...and ... and hard, too polished. But the give away was his nose, which was unnaturally long and thin, with abnormally small nostrils. Beneath the choker he wore were indentations, all the way around his neck--like a puppet's joint...  
  
The moon traveled further, over his body. He had a small, feminine waist and long, toned legs, and more and more of the puppet joints were revealed. The outfit he wore was childish--shorts that would have been popular in the tenth kingdom that barely laced up to his hips, a white body suit and bronze suspenders. He also wore a blue sailor collar. And then, it hit her: He wasn't a man at all.  
  
Alice's arms and legs started shaking. She had, in succession, been attacked by a woman who looked like a doll and one who was a doll. A living, talking doll. She blinked a few times before her eyes rolled back in her head as she crumpled in a dead faint.  
  
The puppet's eyes widened and then a look of sadness crossed over her face. She rolled over and knelt, gently tapping Alice's face. "Oh my lord," said she, "I've killed her."  
  
Carefully, she picked up Alice's limp body and walked in the dark to a carriage that was waiting silently for them. With a small "hup" from the puppet, she jumped up into the driver's seat and sent the horses in motion. The field was silent.  
  
******  
  
Meanwhile, in a cottage in the Second Kingdom...  
  
She leaned forward through the open window, exposed skin of her forearms pressed against the chilled brick of the sill. Inhaling deeply, she closed her eyes to absorb scents that mingled in the warm summer air. Her inner core desired to run through the forests that this window faced. The tall oaks and elms surrounding the clearing that the brick cottage had been constructed upon was casting shadows of black and blue against the lush, fertile green of the grassy ground. She longed to feel the earth between her toes, to dash around the underbrush and run her hands along the bark as she ran past the thick trunks. The urge to give into these desires was even stronger than it was the rest of the month -- she could feel it in every nerve of her being, and both wanted it to come, yet dreaded it.  
  
Starlight shone down brightly this eve, seeming more vibrant than she had noticed before. The girl narrowed her eyes at the sky, ears twitching as though she heard something coming and moved forward even more. Sniffing the air, she could smell nothing strange, nothing but the woods, its inhabitants, Grandmother, and herself. But what was that sudden tingle she felt in her forehead, and that pulse of light in the sky?  
  
"Cécile... Shut the window and sleep," a stern voice commanded from behind her, causing the dark haired girl to nearly fall backwards off of the window seat. Cécile turned around, her brows raised with a lingering surprise and an oddly dumb look on her face. She began to open her mouth in protest, though the older woman was quicker to speak, her hands upon her hips, "It is late, and you need rest for the coming days. Close your mouth, dear." The pet name sounded somewhat forced, but typical from Grandmother, clad in her thick white nightgown with a quilt draped over her shoulders. Her own expression was grim, somewhat cold, though not uncommon on her face. She had always been a tough woman, and that had been the only way she could keep her status in town.  
  
"Yes, Grandmother," replied the girl as she closed the rotting wooden shutters. Cécile slid her legs off of the cushions, wriggling her bare feet against the chilled stone. Even during the summer nights, the cottage never failed to keep a low temperature, sometimes requiring quilts. But the cold did not bother her as much as it did Grandmother, who was growing frailer by the year. In the bakery, the teen had heard whispers of how shocked some of the employees were that the old woman was still alive. However, living without Grandmother was quite unthinkable to Cécile, and as soon as she heard the words out of the gossipy girls, she demanded that they get back to work or else their pay would be lighter by the end of the week.  
  
But it was the truth, as hard as the truth was to face. Cécile removed the black ties from her braid, letting the dark hair fall loose over her shoulders. She combed it with her fingers as she moved up the rickety wooden stairs, the paneling creaking softly beneath her weight as she marched upwards. Dull moonlight flooded the upper floor of the small cottage through the single window, short roof nearly brushing the top of Cécile's head as she reached the final step. Half of the upper floor was partitioned for storage of antiques and memorabilia of the childhoods of her aunts and uncles, her mother, and herself. The other half that stood before her was a neatly kept bedroom, filled with a single trunk for clothing, a bed, a nightstand with a lamp, a desk and chair, and a bookshelf upon which small trinkets and a jewelry box sat.  
  
Rather than head straight for her bed as Grandmother had told her, Cécile instead lifted her chair as to avoid waking the sleeping woman below by dragging it. She planted it before the circular glass window, looking straight out at the sky, and the stars, and the moon. It wasn't a random decision, but a necessity. Especially on a night like this, when she could feel that something was wrong... The problem was that she didn't know what, or who, or where the source of this disturbance was. Tonight, it would be especially difficult for her to fall asleep...that is, more difficult than normal.  
  
Cécile would be the last person to admit she was afraid of closing her eyes and falling asleep... She would start to drift off some nights, then suddenly jolt awake in fear, despite the fact that she was secure and that it had been two years since the incident. Her head would toss and turn in resistance and her hands would roam over the soft down pillows, groping for something to help her escape, just like that sunny afternoon on the grassy knoll. Cécile raised a hand up to her throat, making sure that the red cloth was still tied around it, and traced her fingers over the material. She wrapped her arms tighter around herself and shuddered, goosebumps forming over her skin, though there was no airflow in the room that was giving her chills. It was simply memories that she didn't like to recall. If only she could just forget...  
  
She yawned and rubbed at her eyes, suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion. With one girl out because of an illness, and another one that Cécile was sure was just faking it to spend time with the new boy she had been fawning over, she had had to work overtime to keep up with the usual demands. It seemed that most of the young girls in the town were getting older and marrying off, becoming housewives with children or leaving the town, sometimes the kingdom altogether. Despite practically smelling the lies on the man-chasing worker, the bakery couldn't afford to lose anymore people. Standing up, Cécile stretched out her lean formed before crawling into bed, curling up on her side to face the window.  
  
She looked straight through the glass pane before closing her eyes, to catch one last glimpse at the sky and the stars and the moon...  
  
******  
  
"Virginia!" said a voice as as man with coal black hair walked inside the cozy apartment. His smile was broad and happy. Slipping off his black coat and folding it over his arm, it was revealed that he was carrying a boquet of roses.  
  
He walked further inside, and looked around. The lights were dimmed in the livingroom. Not a sound was heard... "Virginia?"  
  
Walking into the living room, he looked around and saw a woman with short brown hair nestled into the couch. His look softened as the man knelt down beside her, tucking a loose strand of her brown hair behind her ear. Then he slipped the boquet beneath her arms. It was obvious that she was expecting, and he whispered something about their child to her. Finally he laid his jacket over her and kissed her forehead.  
  
"I'll go make us some steaks," he said to himself. Mmm, steak. One of the three basic food groups: Steak, Lamb, and Pork. Ooh, and poultry. Poultry was good too. But not as good as steak.  
  
The sound of a music box echoed throughout the tiny apartment. He turned, looking around and sniffing. That's funny, he didn't hear that before--  
  
"Good evening, Wolf."  
  
A lady appeared in the corner of the room. She had brown hair, like Virginia's, and striking green eyes. To be frank, she was wearing the most bizarre outfit he had ever seen--the most noticable being the dark green sailor collar and the leather straps around her neck and forearms. She looked down at him from her mid-air position and laughed. "Today has been  
  
such a busy day for me. Traveling between dimensions is very tiring, you know. And I left that poor little girl Alice in the fifth kingdom to die by the hands of Sailoruranus!"  
  
"Who are you?" Wolf asked as he instinctively moved back in front of Virginia. He tucked his head down and away from her, much like an animal.  
  
"You don't need to know my name..." she said softly, her words cold. As if gravity was just now effecting her, she dropped to the floor gracefully and advanced toward him. "I have to get rid of you, Wolf. You...and the child."  
  
Wolf looked up at her wordlessly.  
  
"Virginia means nothing to me. She is nothing without you. Niether does her halfwit of a father living back in the nine kingdoms--but we want to make this clean. It's you...you and the child. The others are taking care of King Wendell."  
  
She held out her hands to touch him. He moved backwards and was preparing to sink his teeth into her gloved hands when a shard of glass appeared there in her palm. It was the size of a kitchen knife.  
  
"No."  
  
"This will only hurt if you struggle. I don't want to bring you pain, Wolf." She moved closed to him. This time, he reeled back and succeeded in biting her, and smiled at her defiantly.  
  
The lady cried out and held her hand, looking at him viciously. "That wasn't very nice, you know." And then, with her glass shard in hand, she flew at him. She was unbelievably fast...  
  
He ducked down and rolled, landing on his haunches. Frantically he looked over to the couch and shouted. "VIRGINIA! VIRGINIA, WAKE UP!"  
  
Virginia, still nestled under Wolf's coat, turned over to face the back of the couch. "Mm, no, not try now.. so sleepy..."  
  
Wolf rolled his eyes. "Oh, of all the times to take a nap."  
  
"This is no time to be making jokes," the cold, quiet voice said behind him. He looked up to see a glass shard dangerously close to his head. Piercing green eyes looked down at him as she spoke. "Goodbye, Wolf, one of the Four Who Saved the Nine Kingdoms."  
  
Wolf's head tilted down as he looked at her pitifully. He scratched behind one of his ears and bent down submissively. Squinting, he saw the ornate mirror that hung in the center of their livingroom. There was a strange aura around it as it flickered like sunlight at the bottom of a river.  
  
'So that's how she got in,' Wolf thought to himself. 'But that mirror isn't magical!... Is it?'  
  
At that instant she sent the shard down upon his head. But Wolf was too quick for her. He leaned back and with all the strength he could muster, kicked her in the stomach. With no gravity to stop her, she flew into the wall--and straight through the mirror. She screamed. The glass shard hit the floor and broke.  
  
Wolf sat there for a few minutes, scratching his head and looking at the mirror. Carefully, he walked over to the mirror, which was still shimmering. "How can it be...?" He asked out loudas he reached to touch the mirror to feel its authenticity.  
  
Suddenly, a white gloved hand grabbed his hand and pulled him in. The apartment was silent.  
  
******  
  
It was, Richelle thought unhappily, enough to make any single person go crazy. First her parents, who were at best flighty (and at worst downright neglectful nowadays), had just left. Not a note or word to the one servant they had as to where they were going--just left. Richelle, expecting her day to be no different from any other, had woken up to have breakfast with them. "Of course they weren't there to breakfast with..." she muttered kicking off her boots in favor of her lighter slippers.  
  
Then, on the way home from school, Maya had dropped a bombshell. "Listen Richen...My family wants to take a vacation..." Richelle had wisely not mentioned her family always took vacations. "This time you can't come." Maya said this with a look of resigned misery on her face.  
  
Richelle had blinked shaking her head. "What?"  
  
"Mom and dad...well they don't think its so wise to be taking you along anymore...what with the boys getting to be that age and always skipping after you..." Richelle suddenly understood what Maya meant. 'My parents don't want a fight to break out because my brothers are all in love with you.' Which was as ridiculous as it sounded. All seven of them in love with her?  
  
"Oh...okay. Its not a good time anyway--lots of extra studying and all...when you get back then.." Richelle had merely murmured with a faint smile. Maya instantly looked relieved and hugged her friend. Richelle patted her back, only a little uncomfortable.  
  
After that horrible episode came the biggest shock of her life. The maid slash housekeeper slash cook slash every other duty in the household had quit. Just like that. The moment Richelle stepped through the doors Mariah, the all purpose servant, had quit. "Sorry young miss, but I ain't gonna do that even if it is for your sire and mom." she has said simply then marched out.  
  
With a feeling bordering on surrealism Richelle had put down her books and reflected on the day. Padding to the library she peeked in, saw no one and continued to the next room. By the fifth room, her parents' bedroom--a place she only barely remembered from childhood, having believed it was improper for her to go near there--she was pinching herself like crazy to see if she was dreaming.  
  
Sitting heavily on the biege covered bed Richelle stared at her mother's small vanity mirror. She tugged at the braid she wore her shoulder length hair in, wistfully wishing her mother would let her cut it just a few more inches. She traced the bone structure of her face, frowning the whole time at the still very visible baby fat.  
  
All in all not a bad reflection. Richelle knew she would improve and the thought cheered her. She yawned and scooted back a little to fall asleep. With Mariah gone and her parents away dinner would be a simple affair. Greens and bread maybe, she thought sleepily, snuggling into the warmth of the bed more.  
  
Her last fleeting thought, as sleep took over, was that maybe today no one would need Sailor Mercury.  
  
******  
  
A pair of eyes, of dark brown and of vibrant yellow, opened in the darkness. A stream of pale blue light fell over her features, casting dark shadows in the curves of her face and illuminating the floating dust. She blinked at the moon, which was almost perfectly aligned with the round glass pane. Cécile looked around, unusually wide awake, though it was still night. She wasn't sure how long she had been sleeping -- perhaps hours, minutes, or a few seconds. Either way, all exhaustion had fled her body, replaced by a wide awake high that usually came from caffeine. Somewhat irritated by her early awakening, she half-grumbled, half-sighed aloud. Who needed sleep? She would have to get up in a few hours anyway... According to the clock on the nightstand, it was already midnight, and though the bakery didn't open until nine, she had to get an early start at five.  
  
Rather than get up, she rolled over to lay flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She didn't want to be here -- trapped in a dull little town, with a boring job, and no time to do the things she looked forward to. Already at sixteen her life was over, before it had barely begun. But Grandmother needed her to stay here and keep the bakery running smoothly. Cécile couldn't just drop her responsibilities to her own family and become this 'Sailormars' person that she had transformed into once...no matter how much her heart desired it. She closed her eyes again and rolled onto her side, laying still for a moment, before pulling back her arm and punching the pillow. She sat up in bed, kicking back the sheets and grabbing the limp pillow to her chest. Burying her face in the white softness, she didn't notice the strange ripple in the ceiling above the end of her bed until she heard a loud half-growl, half-yelp fall from it.  
  
A pile of dark cloth lay on the opposite end of the bed. Cécile lifted her head up quickly, eyes wide as saucers while her mouth hung open dumbly. The pile stirred slightly, tilting its dark haired head up to peer curiously at her with gleaming golden eyes. It wasn't a pile -- it was a man!  
  
So she did the only think she could think of doing: scream.  
  
Her high pitched cry echoed in the room and down the stairs, causing the man to cover his own ears and duck his head again. Scrambling out of bed, Cécile flung the pillow at him and fell onto the floor with a thud, legs tangled in the sheets. She wriggled free before the intruder could catch her, quickly shifting from a crawl to a stumble for the opposite end of the upper floor, ducking into the shadows. When Wolf turned his head up again, the girl in the bed was gone. He shook his head as though it would get rid of the shock and the numbness he felt from being pulled through the mirror. At least the landing had been soft...  
  
Suddenly, a faceful of thick straw was jabbed at him and Wolf was forced to lean back. Except he leaned back too far, and fell backwards with his legs still on the springy bed and his torso on the hard wooden floor. He winced, though the pain didn't seem to end there. The thick straw was the end of a broom, and it was now swinging down on his head rather forcefully. He heard the girl's voice, shouting loudly, "AAAH! DIRTY BASTARD! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?!?" All he could do was try and sputter between each downfall of the broom.  
  
"Nnnn! Aaaargh! Uuuuugh! ERRRRNGH!" The man tried to speak, making poor attempts at blocking the broom with his arms.  
  
"DIIEEE! BASTARD!" Cécile called out as she raised and swung the broom in her hands, an adrenaline rush the only thing keeping her from passing out due to hyperventilation. She began to slow down, trying to catch her breath between shouting, smacking, and recovering from being frightened. It was then that Wolf was finally able to grab the end of the broomstick and try to pry it from her grip, yanking it towards him. But Cécile showed surprising resiliance, before finally letting go, which caused the stick to go flying and hit him instead.  
  
The man laid limply from the blow he inflicted upon himself, which had been almost comical, were it not for the fact that he was a stranger that suddenly appeared in her bed. Still panting from exhaustion, Cécile stepped over his body and grabbed for the broom, which lay on the other side of his body. She was careful not to step on him, in case that woke him and he tried to attack her. Where was Grandmother? She couldn't be that dead asleep. Taking it up in her shaking hands again, he stirred slightly, shaking his head and lifting one hand to scratch the side of it. "Cripes..." the man muttered, to which Cécile replied to with the handle of the broom at his throat.  
  
She stood above him, one foot planted firmly on his stomach while she pressed the handle to his throat, eyes narrowed dangerously as she growled, "Who are you, where did you come from, and WHY are you in my room?"  
  
"Not so many questions at first, huff puff..." He opened his eyes and looked at her with piercing eyes, as if he were studying her from the inside. Of course, to Cécile this may have come across as him trying to undress her with his eyes, but he couldn't help that. "For starters, I came from the tenth kingdom." At that, his eyes bulged and he tried to sit up, but the broom conviently poked him in the adam's apple and made him resume his position on the floor. "But you must let me go--oh, my poor creamy, dreamy Virginia...!" He let out a pitiful whimper.  
  
The stunned silence that fell over them was so still that one could practically hear Cécile blink. Twice. She stared at him blankly, though didn't remove her 'weapon', "The...Tenth...Kingdom?"  
  
Couldn't be. This man was nuts. Or...he could be... She blinked again at the name 'Virginia'. One of the Four Who Saved the Nine Kingdoms... "Cripes!" the girl shouted, almost dropping the broom. It leapt in her hands before she caught it and placed it on the floor and out of the way. Cécile covered her mouth with one curled hand, biting her nails nervously as she crouched beside the man and offered a hand to help him up. "I...I'msosorry, Mr. Wolf, sir! Didn't realize... Of course, you did just drop into my bed...and I was scared, and I didn't... Very sorry!" she winced, ducking her head a bit in shame.  
  
He sat up rather painfully. "It's okay... I don't know what happened.." He scratched himself behind the ear and sat deep in thought. "Some girl showed up at our apartment while Virginia was sleeping... I managed to fight her off, but she dragged me through the mirror.... Cripes. The mirror wasn't even magic--it was some plain one she had bought a few months ago.  
  
"But as we were jumping from mirror to mirror, she left... and then... I fell through one and well...I was instantly beat over the head with a broomstick. You know the rest. But now the girl's gone and my poor Virginia is all alone..." He perked up and one of his ears twitched. "And she said that she and 'the others' were going to take care of Antony and Wendell!"  
  
"You mean King Wendell White? And his manservant...er, friend, Antony Lewis? But..." the girl tilted her head and blinked a few times, trying to absorb all of this. Though the beginning of their fame had only been six months ago, the man before her was still a legendary hero. And now he was telling her things that she didn't quite understand -- things of monarchs in danger, and people jumping through magic mirrors... But it wasn't a dream, and she knew it was really Wolf sitting in front of her. She recognized his face from the newspapers, the clippings in a box beneath her bed, and he was no impostor, for she could smell that he was truly a half wolf. Her glazed over eyes shifted from staring at the floor to looking at Wolf, suddenly snapping out of her trance, "I...I'm Cécile Follet. And I'm afraid there's not much we can do about the situation from here... You're in the Second Kingdom, sir."  
  
"Pleased to meet you, Cécile," Wolf said distractedly. And then, something hit him like a bag of bricks from the sky. Only not as painful. He sniffed and looked at her, but didn't say anything. There didn't need to be words. Then he shook his head and decided to stay away from that subject, as now was not to the time to bond with a girl who had nearly given him a concussion with a broom alone. "But there's got to be some way--we could hitch a ride or..." He stopped as the word 'we' registered in his head. "Something."  
  
Tilting her head at Wolf, Cécile caught a brief look in his eyes, a glint of recognition. The look was familiar, though she had only seen that expression in the only other half wolf she had ever met. That woman had simply been passing through town, only ordering bread but saying nothing about what they were. Then again, it wasn't as though Cécile's identity was concealed, not when her eye betrayed her.  
  
She replied only to the words he actually spoke aloud, though her tone was somewhat incredulous, "Hitch a ride? In case you haven't noticed..." Pushing back the hair that fell over her golden eye, she turned her head towards the window, through which the moon shone brightly. Wolf turned to look as well as she spoke, "Where do you propose we 'hitch a ride' at this hour?" A slight frown formed on her face as she turned back to him. And even if they *did* find a way to get to the Fourth Kingdom, Wendell's Palace was still hours, perhaps days, away...  
  
"Then we'll walk. I'll walk. Until we find a place where we CAN hitch a ride." And with that, Wolf shakily rose to his feet and began walking towards the door. Then he paused, scratched his ear, and looked back. He was still somewhat disoriented from being attacked by a broom, much less traveling to the nine kingdoms. "Uhh...which way is out?"  
  
The girl stood and straightened the folds of her nightgown and robe, her expression somewhat blank at his inability to even find a way out of the upstairs floor. "Here, down these steps. But you might want to be extra quiet and extra careful not to wake up Grandmother... She can get very cranky when her sleep is interupted, and she's far more terrible with abroom than I am," Cécile turned him towards the staircase. If he couldn't even handle navigating the cottage... Why, she couldn't let the poor man wander the big scary woods all on his lonesome. A smirk curled at the corners of her lips while his back was turned to her. "Er, wait downstairs for me... I'll pack us...er, you, some things to take with you on your walk. We--you, might be able to find someone out when you reach town."  
  
This what just the sort of escape she had been waiting for... And now she was going to go on a grand adventure.  
  
******  
  
"Backstreet's back, ALRIGHT!"  
  
Alice moaned and rubbed her eyes with the flat of her palms. Of all the things, to wake up with a headache and remnants of a bad dream, but to add music by guys who sound like girls was simply cruel. She started humming the first thing she could think of, which happened to be the theme to "My Neighbor Totoro," but anything is better than Backstreet Boys. But something else was strange... could it be that her bed was rocking? She opened her eyes. She definatly was not in her room. In fact, it looked more like the inside of a... carriage.  
  
Maybe that wasn't a dream.  
  
Now was the choice time to find out. Alice sat up, brushing her hair back like second nature and kicked open the door.  
  
Only to find that the carriage was in motion. Trees passed her eyes and then disappeared as fast as they came. Long blades of grass thundered against the exposed floor of the carriage. The sound of horses was everywhere.  
  
She gasped and shrunk back. They were going fast. Too fast to jump, probably. Maybe if she hid or... Screw it. "HELLO!" she shouted out the door, "WHO'S DRIVING THIS THING?!"  
  
Over the top of the carriage she could see the backside of a young man. He was dressed in a grey suit with tails and a top hat cocked to the side of his head. "So I see you woke up!" He called over the horses, but his voice was vaguely familair... "How did you sleep?"  
  
Alice blinked, wondering what happened to the puppet chick. Or the mirror chick for that matter. "Badly." She replied in a deadpan tone. "Time to play twenty questions. Where are you taking me?"  
  
"I dunno, where would you like to go?" was the reply. He tilted his hat up with one hand.  
  
She sighed, figures she'd be kidnapped by the Clueless Wonder. "I wouldn't be able to go back to New York by any chance?"  
  
"New fork?" He repeated over the sound of the horses. "I've never been to a place called that lady, and I've been all over the nine kingdoms. But if you want to buy some silverware, we could--"  
  
"...Wait one moment here... 'Nine Kingdoms'? What in the name of Einstein's electrical socket are you babbling about?!"  
  
"You're the one babbling about silverware and elec....electric... whatever the heck you just said," He retorted. He paused for a moment. "You know, this is the Nine Kingdoms. Five Kingdoms were ruled by a queen during the Golden Age...ringing a bell, right?"  
  
"I was talking about New York, like YORKshire terrier," she replied stiffly, "There is no such place as the Nine Kingdoms on the geographic maps of Earth, and what's more, I haven't heard of any Golden Age except in storybooks!"  
  
"You know, I liked you better when you were inside the carriage." The young man said, before they turned around a sharp bend.  
  
"Why I--" was all Alice could manage before she was thrown back inside the carriage and against the other door. "Ow," more quietly, "fuck," then "ow" again was what she ending finishing the sentence with. Well, on the not-so- bright side, it seems her kidnapper lacked the intelligence to rape her.  
  
"Just relax and enjoy the ride for a bit, okay, lady?" He called, "We're almost there. I don't want you falling out and getting yourself enchanted...you've got just the right attitude to piss someone off who could turn you into a gnat. That's the last thing I need."  
  
Just then, something flew by the window. Alice assumed it was just a bird, when more of them came. They glowed like fireflies, and yet one got the distinct feeling that they were as far away from lightning bugs as one could possibly imagine. And then the whole group disappeared into the dense foilage of the forest.  
  
"..." Alice gulped. 'Enchanted'? Was that their term for getting high? Or brainwashing? She crawled on her knees to the carriage door and slammed it shut without a reply. Then after pulling up her hood again, she curled up in the corner of the carriage, wondering what the hell had happened to her.  
  
The carriage ride continued for another hour. Eventually, the forest faded away to long fields and then little farms emerged. Soon a stone wall started that followed them passed all of the farms. It was suddenly very apparent that she was nowhere near New York, though. As they passed a rickety old house seven little children immediately came outside and chased after the carriage.  
  
"No rides today, children!" He told them. "Gio's on important business!"  
  
But they refused to stop following the carriage until they reached the end of the stone wal, where they stood, waving to the young carriage driver.  
  
"I promise!" He said to them, "Next time, I will take you all for a very long ride! And I will bring peppermint for you all!"  
  
Alice woke up from dozing when the carriage lurched to a halt. She opened the door and peeked out, hoping that it was safe for her to make a run for it. It didn't help that her limbs were cramping from being in a fetal position for so long.  
  
Unfortunately, there was no such hope for her, because the young man jumped off the driver's seat at that exact moment. He patted one of the horses soothingly and spoke to them. "Good job, good job. Deserves some sugar cubes, eh?" And secretively, as if it were an illegal thing to do, he pulled a handfull of sugar cubes from his pocket and fed each one a few cubes and gave them a pat on the head.  
  
They were apparently in a village of some sort. People walked up and down the streets, the ladies in full gowns and tight corsets and the men in suits not unlike the young carriage drivers. The entire village seemed to step right out of a historical novel.  
  
"I suppose," the carriage driver said to her, as he tied up the horses, "that we started out on the wrong foot yesterday."  
  
Alice gingerly stepped out of the carriage, keeping her hood up and coat zipped. "Last night?" she asked, her lips twitching slightly when she realized she had just stepped in some mud, "That wasn't you, that was some weird chick who tried to kill me..." She scooted over to drier ground, narrowly avoiding a lady's voluminous skirts.  
  
"Well, you know, 'weird chick' would not be the name I'd like you to call me if you could avoid it," He turned around and bowed, sweeping his hat to the side with one hand. Shineless rust red hair fell over his face as he stood. "My name is Gio Geppetto, from the Fifth Kingdom. And you, my friend, are Sailor Pluto of the Tenth."  
  
Alice made a quiet noise. She looked at him through the eye that wasn't hidden by her hood. "N-nice to meet you," her fingers were quivering. She couldn't understand what was going on. "And I'm not a sailor... I'm a waitress. My name is Allison Wunderlich, but most people call me Alice."  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you, dear Alice," He replied. As he brushed his hair from his face, it was now very apparent that he was either A. a very attractive man or B. a very masculine looking girl. Alice couldn't decide on which. "And trust me, you are very much a sailor. Come on, I'll buy you dinner and I can tell you everything."  
  
She blinked, the sensible part of her brain wanting to refuse. Her stomach had other ideas, and growled in consent. Dinner did sound awfully good, and she could smell food where she stood. Despite the semi-renaissance air, Alice didn't feel completely out of place. "I would like dinner very much."  
  
******  
  
Two foxes sat on a pile of books, gesturing towards a torn page in an open book on the floor. They were bickering loudly, and knocking more and more books off of the shelf next to them.  
  
"You shouldn't have done that. Rabe's going to skin you alive. That's her favorite book, you know."  
  
"They're ALL her favorite books. Besides, I'm her favorite uncle."  
  
"You're her only uncle. Besides, this used to be MY library. -I- should skin you alive. Now, look here, you've ripped MY favorite book!" One fox began advancing towards the other, but was interrupted in his attack by a hand picking his victim up by the scruff of his neck and thumping him over the head. "Right, give him a good one from me, would you? Ow..." She thumped him too.  
  
"What are you two doing destroying my library? Or has becoming foxes addled your brains?" Rabe sighed and picked up her grandfather in the hand not occupied by her great-uncle. She took them downstairs and dropped them unceremoniously on the main desk. "Now I have to put everything back on the shelves where they belong AND repair the pages. Joy of joys."  
  
"Oh, Grumpy-Britches, you needed something to do anyways. No one's come in here in ages, you know. Most of the shelves are dusty with unuse." Wilhelm whacked his brother Jacob over the head with his tail on his way past, and sat down in front of his granddaughter. Who was now grinning. His eyes widened. "What're you thinking, Grandaughter?"  
  
Ten minutes later, the pair of furballs were dusting the shelves.  
  
Rabe laughed a bit as she carefully put Binder's Ointment on the torn pages. Ahhh, magic was a handy tool. It was a good thing the tear wasn't through any words, or they would have been mangled. This way you couldn't even tell. She thought fleetingly of living the adventures in her books, but then got caught up in putting the fallen back in their place. As always, one chore eventually led to another, and she ended up re-binding a couple of books that were somewhere past 'Tattered' and into the realm of 'Falling Apart'. Something always needed done around here, and that was all right. Rabe liked her quiet life. She knew that sometime in the future someone would seek out Sailorsaturn, but for now, quiet was what she had. And quiet was what she wanted.  
  
******  
  
The Dish and Spoon was Gio's favorite restaurant. Therefore, everyone there knew Gio by name. It was a busling, busy little place but when Gio walked in, the entire room stopped and looked up before waving. Walking over to a little booth in the corner labeled 'Gio's table' for obviously some inside joke, the carriage driver was bombarded with questions.  
  
"Gio! How are the travels?"  
  
"Splendid as ever, might I say. Picked up some cargo along the way," Gio gestured to Alice who followed behind. A few of them laughed.  
  
"Is she your girl, then?"  
  
"No, not quite--let's just say we have a mutual acquitance. Promised I'd bring to dinner."  
  
Gio sat down in the burgundy-colored booth and scooted over to the window, propping up on an elbow. A small, worn down wax candle sat in the center of the table. A waitress came over and offered to light it, but Gio politely declined, hands trembling.  
  
Alice looked around the restaurant, her expression null. She didn't even twitch an eyebrow at the "cargo" comment. Why bother? She was too hungry to care about dealing with sexist slime. Tucking her pale locks behind her ears, she read over the menu. Finally, she tilted her head up slightly and asked, "What are you having?"  
  
"The usual," Gio replied absently, but then realized that it was not a waitress who was asking the question. "Oh, I mean the chicken parmesean. It's very good, you should try it."  
  
She nodded and set her menu down, notably listless and subdued. It wasn't because she was hungry, either. Then they ordered their food and the waitress collected their menus.  
  
Gio sat his menu down too, and looked at her thoughtfully. "So tell me, how did you get here? If you really did come from the tenth kingdom...I know you're from the outside."  
  
"What was your first clue? The vinyl or the jeans? And as aforementioned, some woman dragged me through a mirror and deposited me here. Wherever 'here' is," she replied.  
  
"Actually, it's more of the crude, mocking demeanor you posess. Anyone who had lived here all their life and acted like you do would probably be a badger by now. Or a witch," Gio replied. "And 'here' is the Nine Kingdoms. You see, nearly 250 years ago, our kingdoms were united by five powerful queens, including Queen Cinderella who is still ruling the First Kingdom to this very day. We are currently in the fifth kingdom, where I come from. That's why I was the first one to find you--besides you being from the outside and all. Does that make it any more clear for you?"  
  
"Witches aren't all that bad and I'm not crude..." Alice mumbled below hearing range. "And I'm starting to understand, despite the fact that the First Kingdom is ruled by fairy tale princess... So what is this "sailor" business?" She asked.  
  
"You see, each kingdom has a specific guardian that watches over it," Gio lowed her voice and moved in a little closer. "I am Sailoruranus, protector of the fifth Kingdom. You are Sailorpluto, protector of the tenth kingdom. I had thought it was Virginia, at first... but it surely couldn't, she only killed the queen on accident. But I saw your sign--on your forehead, last night when you were running away. So I had to follow you. Apparently, you were supposed to stay in the Tenth Kingdom, to watch over it, but something went wrong." Gio looked at Alice and then paused. "Okay, maybe I should explain.  
  
"The Nine Kingdoms' Golden age was over a long time ago. We're not exactly in the best of shape right now. Especially with so much evil suddenly appearing in such a short time. It was only around half a year ago that the evil Queen rose and tried to take over the Nine Kingdoms. But a group of people stopped her. They are legends here, Alice, so remember their names. Wolf, Antony, King Wendell, and Virginia. Virginia was the daughter of the evil queen herself.  
  
"It seemed like everything was okay. Most places have settled down now, and continued their business. But now there's been stories of new evils--people trying to do what the queen couldn't. And they have magic far powerful that the Queen's was. The four who saved the nine kingdoms, we're afraid, just couldn't handle it. Heck, Virginia's with child! So that's where we come it. It's our destiny to stop these--these Speculum Soldiers, that's what they're called."  
  
Alice listened closely, trying to follow Gio's story. That was easy. It was fitting it into her reality which wasn't working. She stopped fiddling with her cuticles and tried to ignore rational thinking. "So," she said in a conspiratorially quiet voice to match Gio's, "I'm a soldier and I was supposed to protect New York-slash-the world when that woman, who'd I would assume is a Speculum Solider, took me here. And now I am supposed to help save the Nine Kingdoms from the Speculum (which means mirror, by the way) Soldiers." She leaned back, slightly proud she understood most of it. "What's more," she shook pepper onto the table and traced the astrologer's symbol for Pluto, "if I am Sailorpluto and you're Sailoruranus, there must be a Sailorsaturn and Sailorneptune. Are they going to help as well?" She traced the others' symbols as she spoke.  
  
"Well actually, seeing as there is ten kingdoms, there should tecnically be ten soldiers. But the third kingdom is ruled by the Trolls...so they might not have one." Gio leaned back, talking as if it were the most casual thing in the world now. "So we're not only looking for Neptune and Saturn. We're looking for Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus and.... er. I forget the last one."  
  
"Hmm... There's nine planets. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. So... There must be a Sailor... Asteroid Belt? Then there's the Sun, which is actually a star..." her voice trailed off into astronomical mumblings.  
  
And then, the food arrived. Which was a good thing--Alice was about to put Gio to sleep. The carriage driver perked up immediately. "Ooh, look, the food. Doesn't it smell great?"  
  
Alice snapped out of her trance, "Oh... yes." And it did, she hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday. She unfolded her napkin and placed it in her lap and started shoveling food into her mouth. Well, she thought she was. Even though she looked to be one of the most refined diners in the restaurant.  
  
And quite frankly, Gio was not the most refined either. Slurping the pasta on the plate almost like a child, Gio ate like..well, a horse. "Mmmm this is sooooooo good. *slurp* I love *munch* it here, the people are so nice. You should try the chocolate pie, it's to die for."  
  
Had she been at home, and not ravenous, Alice would have lost her appetite right there and then. "Uhm, sure," she replied after chewing and swallowing a piece of chicken.  
  
"So yeah, what did this Speculum soldier person look like? The one that took you...?"  
  
Alice bit pasta off her fork and chewed thoughtfully. She swallowed and replied, "Brown hair, porcelain skin, brilliant green eyes... ... Unique costume, made yours look tasteful... She grabbed me though a mirror."  
  
"Hmm," was all Gio had to say to that. "I suppose, after this, we should look for the other senshi. But where to start?"  
  
"Do I look like I live here? I think not. However, my suggest would be to start in the Eighth Kingdom seeing as how we have the guardians of the Fifth and Tenth here," she replied in a neat manner, pausing to deter a man from touching her with a quick glare.  
  
*************  
  
Broken Fairy Tales: Senshi of the Ten Kingdoms.  
  
Ahahaha! And so, the plot thickens. :D  
  
The chapters of this story are taken directly from a play-by-email by the same name. Each of the writers, including myself, have given consent to having their work published under this name, with due credit.  
  
'Once Upon A Time', episode two of Broken Fairy Tales, was written by Gena, Sushi, Koi, Alex, and Mags. Love you guys! 3  
  
This is a crossover between 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon', and the NBC/Hallmark miniseries 'The Tenth Kingdom', that aired in 1998/1999. 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon' and 'The Tenth Kingdom' do not belong to the people who wrote Broken Fairy tales and we do not claim rights to any of the aforementioned television shows. We do, however, claim rights to our original characters, the Senshi of the Ten Kingdoms. They are copyrighted to their creators.  
  
Are you a fan of sailormoon, the tenth kingdom, or just fairy tales? If you're a good writer and would like to contribute, visit our site at www32.brinkster.com/cwmrpg/broken  
  
We're currently looking for someone to play Sailorvenus and Sailor Commoneo, so if you're interested please check it out. ^_^ 


	3. Of Fiddler Crabs and Kings

"Well... It's only one in the morning, I suppose it's not too late to find someone down at the pub..." Cécile murmured behind her. In one hand, she held a lantern in which flames danced and cast moving shadows over the ground as they shifted from the packed earth of the dirt road to a worn cobblestone street. A bulging black satchel was slung over her shoulder, as well as a matching one carried by the following Wolf. Surprisingly, the old woman hadn't even stirred awake from the commotion upstairs, though upon entering her room, Cécile had found that Grandmother had put in ear plugs and a sleeping mask over her face. She had left a detailed letter to Grandmother on the kitchen table, explaining the urgency at which she needed to leave, and an apology for wrecking one of her brooms and taking half of the pantry contents. When Cécile returned downstairs, fully dressed and bearing two empty bags, she didn't allow Wolf to protest, cutting him off each time by asking him to hand her things to pack.  
  
The duo had moved quickly, taking the shortcut through the woods that the girl usually used for going to work. Pointing to her left, she came to a sudden stop, "That's the bakery, where I work... And..." She turned to her right, about to point out another store.  
  
Scratching the side of his head, Wolf interrupted her speech, his impatient tone on the verge of a growl, "Huff puff... It's a nice town, really, but we don't have time for a walking tour!"  
  
Blinking in mild realization, Cécile lowered her hand and nodded. "Oh, right..." Picking up the pace, they moved along the path, now lit overhead by streetlamps burning with vibrant flames of their own. They illuminated the swinging sign only titled 'PUB' in engraved golden letters, an indication of how small this town really was. However, the place wasn't entirely isolated, and the community had its advantages. In comparison to most of the Second Kingdom, the people here were friendlier to wolves, and at the least tolerated them. After all, the owner of their bakery had a part wolf granddaughter running it.  
  
A pair of speckled horses were tied up to the post in front of the structure, as well as still attached to a wagon, its bed covered by a white tarp with golden hay poking through. Passing them, Cécile stroked the sides of their heads and they nuzzled at her. "Friends of yours?" Wolf asked, though the girl simply shook her head in response before moving towards the windows. The glass was somewhat darkened by dust and grime, though a faint light and 'OPEN' sign were still visible through it. Cécile leaned against the heavy wooden door, shouldering it open and holding it for Wolf to follow inside. At this time, the pub was pretty much devoid of people, except for the barmaid and two lingering customers sitting on the stools in front of her.  
  
"G'night Adele!" one of the men at the bar called loudly in a slurred voice to the attractive barmaid as he stumbled off of his stool, bright red in his grinning face. He nearly fell onto the floor, though grabbed at a table to stop himself from completely tumbling over.  
  
"Night, Monsieur Dabin," Adele replied in her accent that sounded French, leaning over the counter top to watch him in amusement. As soon as Wolf stepped inside, the shorter and stouter drunk man pushed around him out the door. And as soon as Wolf stepped inside, Adele's gaze lifted to the door and brightened at seeing the handsome stranger. She straightened up and ran her hands over the scarlet bodice and down to straighten the apron tied around her small waist, looking up at him with a charming grin, "'allo Monsieur... I 'aven't seen you around 'ere before..." She did not take note of the girl moving from the doorway until it slammed shut.  
  
"Oi, Adele!" Cécile called, frowning at the other young woman's flirtatious appearance.  
  
Adele looked at her, at first with recognition, then with shock as she covered her mouth. Moving her hand away she shook her head with a somewhat mortified expression, "Cécile! What are you doing 'ere? With a man, no less! Does your Grandmother know about zees?"  
  
Cécile strode quickly across to the bar, completely ignoring Adele's reaction to speak with her in a low and hurried voice. "Don't you know who that is...?" They exchanged sharp whispers, and even Wolf could only hear snippets of the brief conversation. As they spoke, Adele occasionally peeked around to look at Wolf again, her shocked expression growing every time she glanced. Cécile leaned back to usher Wolf over, whilst the slightly older woman covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.  
  
Cautiously, Wolf walked over to the two girls. His head was tucked in as he looked at them, a few inches away from both their faces. He adjusted the pack he was carrying, before looking back and forth at them repetitively with an animated expression. Wolf almost resembled a dog panting on a hot day. "So what's the plan, Cécile?"  
  
As she was the one addressed, the younger girl replied, "Adele says that man over there--"  
  
But the barmaid quickly cut her off, grinning and still fluttering her eyelashes despite the fact that Wolf was a married man. Everyone knew that his mate was Virginia of the Tenth Kingdom, but what was a girl like Adele to do? She leaned forward on the counter, pointing to a snoring drunkard who was drooling on the countertop, a half-empty mug beside his head in addition to about five other empty mugs. "Zat man over zere, he's a merchant, an' ze owner of ze wagon outside. If you wait long enough, you may be able to catch a ride with 'im."  
  
"Oh, huff puff. We don't have much time!" Wolf continued anxiously, worry spreading over his face. In comparison, Cécile's expression was much calmer and subdued, though she was feeling just as impatient.  
  
"Ah, I will go see if I can wake 'im up," Adele stood up and tipped her head, a weaker smile on her face as she moved to the other end of the bar. At first she merely tapped the man on the shoulder, but received no response, then poked him on the face. "Monsieur..." the woman said in a sweet voice, though it quickly became more irritable. After shaking him some more, all he did was mutter and keep drooling. Looking up at the pair on the other end of the bar, she flashed a quick smile at them, "Excuse me one moment."  
  
As Adele moved into the back, Wolf and Cécile exchanged confused looks for a moment, then turned back around to watch her come out with a bucket. "Monsieur!" Adele hollered in the drunken man's face, before dumping the water all over him. He sat up, coughing and spluttering water around him.  
  
"'m drownin'! Somebody save meee!" the man cried out, his eyes still closed and his arms flailing in the air until he toppled over and onto the floor. Upon landing, he seemed to wake up. Drenched, startled and blinking with bloodshot eyes, he swung his head around to take in his surroundings, "What?!? Where'm I? Who did that?"  
  
Adele tucked the bucket under the bar and cleared her throat, her hands on her hips. "I did, monsieur... You 'ad fallen asleep," replied the barmaid, trying to conceal the disgust in her voice. She nodded her head in the direction of the two part wolves, "Some people want to talk to you." With that, she picked up the bucket and stepped into the back, swinging her hips indignantly as she walked.  
  
"Yeah?" He looked up, tilting his now-drenched hat up a bit and looking at Cécile and Wolf with half-closed, blood-shot eyes. He didn't look very happy to see them, but Wolf didn't mind.  
  
"Ah yes, excuse me sir!" Wolf called as he grabbed a chair opposite a man and scooted it forward. He sat down rather close to him, in order to make eye contact, and propped his head up on his hands. "You see, I am a humble merchant just like yourself." He began. "And my dear, sweet grandmother isvery ill in the fourth kingdom!  
  
"For weeks, I have searched for a cure for my dear, sweet grandmama. And during this, I have had nothing but terrible luck--my horses were stolen by bandits and they robbed me of all my other resources. It was only this adorable young maiden that saved me--and we're hoping that you perhaps could let us ride with you into the fourth kingdom?"  
  
"Actually, I was heading towards the sixth kingdom," was the reply. Wolf grew silent for a moment and his broad, charming smile faded as he scratched behind his ear. Then he leaned closer to the man.  
  
"All right, how about this--I'll make you a deal."  
  
"A deal?" Repeated the merchant, "How so, if you have no supplies left?"  
  
Wolf's voice was barely a whisper. "Well, I don't especially like to mention it in public, you know..." He glanced at Cécile. To the merchant, it might have looked like he was gesturing that she was untrustworthy. But to Cécile, it looked more like a 'go outside now' look. "But also on my travels, I gained a most interesting tool..."  
  
He slipped his hand into his pocket and brought out the keys to his apartment. On the end was a laser pointer, or something of a similar fashion, he couldn't remember--he had picked it up at the bank one day when Virginia took him on errands. He held it up to the man's face, who reached out to touch it. Wolf automatically took it away and shook his head at him.  
  
"Not so fast," Wolf said cautiously. "You don't know how powerful this thing is. I picked it up from a rogue wizard on my way here... should you touch it now," Wolf clicked the light on for emphasis, "It could turn you into a fiddler crab, for all I know."  
  
"What do you want for it?" asked the merchant.  
  
Wolf's eyes rolled up in his head as he let out a small howl. When he looked back to the man, he looked dangerous; wild. "Oh no, some things can never be bought, sir.... but I will give it to you, if I and the girl--" he checked to see if Cécile had gone yet, "--can have your wagon. It's highly favorable for you, sir. With this, you can buy ten thousand other carriages!"  
  
"Then why won't you keep it?"  
  
The black haired man grew silent again, briefly looking ashamed. He looked down at the merchant and shook his head. "I...I am a weak-willed man. The power would...seduce me. But you are obviously a man of...of virtue!" Wolf couldn't believe what he was saying, "And would be able to control the power, unlike how the power would control me..."  
  
The merchant clasped his hands over his enlarged middle. He looked rather pleased through his hardened facial features and beer-stained clothes. Wolf smiled a fanged grin.  
  
"Have we...got a deal?" Wolf said, in a whisper.  
  
"It is done."  
  
Wolf's mood changed drastically at that. "Good!" He handed the set of keys to the man, "Good luck, and may you open many doors..." He said with a mysterious flourish, before heading outside.  
  
"Wait--" The merchant called, "You forgot to tell me--"  
  
SLAM!  
  
"...How to use it." The merchant sighed and looked down at the laser pointer in his hands, before clicking the light on once.  
  
Outside, Cécile was once again standing beside the horses, patting them on the heads as though they belonged to her. And now they did...sort of. Looking up at the slam of the door, she merely arched a brow at the proud, toothy grin that Wolf bore on his face as he came towards her. "Get on!" he grabbed her arm and helped her onto the seat of the wagon, then ran around to untie the horses. Clambering on the other side, he threw their packs into the bed of the wagon and grabbed up the reigns.  
  
With a bumpy start, the horses began a slow trot down the street, hooves clomping loudly against the ground. The passengers swayed back and forth as the wheels ran over the cobblestone. Relaxing a bit in her seat, Cécile turned to Wolf with a curious smirk, "So what was that thing you were showing to the drunkard, eh?"  
  
To which he responded with a scratch to the side of his head and a lopsided grin, "Oh, nothing important."  
  
Her interest seemed to grow due to his casual and secretive response, brow raised again and the smirk growing, "Something from the Tenth Kingdom?" Wolf seemed about to respond, when they heard a loud voice shouting at them from behind.  
  
"'EY YOU! GET BACK 'ERE WITH MY STUFF!" the drunken merchant bellowed at them, waving both of his fists, one in which the exchanged light was. The pair turned around to stare at him in unison, then turned back around. The man began to run at them, surprisingly quick without falling flat on his face for someone who had been unconscious a few minutes ago. The set of metal keys jangled loudly as he shook his meaty fists. "THIS THING DOESN'T WORK! SLIMY SON OF A--!"  
  
While Wolf was still grinning, Cécile's expression was less pleased and somewhat confused, "What'd you give the man?" He didn't reply, merely whipping the reigns and urging the horses to move faster. They broke into a gallop, creating a bit of whiplash, though getting the wagon farther away from the angry drunkard. The man behind them couldn't keep up the pace, and began panting and sweating heavily before coming to a stop. However, he made one last futile attempt by jabbing the laser pointer at them and trying to turn it on, though it did nothing.  
  
His calls of "GET BACK HEREEEE!" went unanswered as they rode out of town and towards the Fourth Kingdom.  
  
******  
  
The night was peaceful, as the waxing moon showed them the way. Fireflies dotted the empty field, flickering like candlelight. The crickets echoed in background. A few hours between Cécile and Wolf had passed like this happily; Wolf talked as fast and as much as possible to get his mind off Virginia, poor, poor Virginia...  
  
...All alone, with their cub... she wasn't helpless, he knew that--earlier that night, when Cécile had all but killed him with a broom brought back a fond (well, it was fond now, but back then it wasn't) memory of Virginia when he first met her. But she was all alone. Suppose Viator was lying, and went back to kill Virginia too...? All these mind games; Wolf loved to deal but never liked to play the game. It was his nature.  
  
But what would poor Virginia think? To find him all gone--nothing left but flowers and his coat. He was beginning to miss his coat at that, although it was a fine summer night in the kingdoms, he found himself shivering. He missed his Virginia, his creamy dreamy Virginia, who would always keep him warm.  
  
No way back now. He knew where the mirror was--it was probably still sitting there, waiting for him, calling him back. Just like Virginia probably was, sitting there alone in an empty apartment with no mate to take care of her... His voice broke into a whimper in mid-sentence because of this and Cécile looked at him strange. She asked if he was okay.  
  
Of course he was okay, he was Wolf.  
  
It wasn't long until the conversation turned to his previous adventure. Wolf, first and foremost, was a Wolf--and wolves are cunning, their words made to sound captivating and appealing to those who heard them. He was a natural storyteller.  
  
"And then, she hit me with a broom! I fell out the window and into the street below," Wolf laughed, which turned into a howl. He smiled at Cécile a little and looked back to the dusty trail ahead of them.  
  
After chuckling softly at the story, Cécile bit her lip and scratched the side of her head, turning away slightly, "Er... Sorry about that, again." She still felt the need to apologize a lot more than she did initially, mostly because he wasn't just any stranger. He was a hero, and her idol, and someone she thought she would only meet in a dream! Speaking of dreams, she yawned quietly with a hand over her mouth. The gentle swaying of the wagon was soothing and rhythmic, but not enough to put her to sleep and she was oddly awake. However, she did feel the need for something else. Tilting her head, she looked up at Wolf again, "I don't suppose you're hungry, are you?"  
  
Wolf hadn't thought about it until then, but yes, he was. He was so focused on getting to the fourth kingdom and trying not to feel guilty about Virginia that he had completely blocked it out. But yes, yes he was hungry... the last thing he had was a pound of bacon that morning for breakfast.  
  
"Er..well.... if you don't mind..."  
  
Before Wolf's answer had finished trailing off, Cécile was already clambering into the back and opening up the supply bags. Sniffing at them first, she turned to one of the packs and dug through it, pulling out a cast iron pan, a pot, a box of matches, rope, oil... After a few long minutes of shifting things around, she finally poked her head out of the bag, her eyes giving off a slight glow in the darkness.  
  
"I packed a few loaves of bread, if you'd like..." the girl said with a grin, before forcefully ripping off a chunk and biting into it. She went silent for a moment to chew with what seemed to be a great effort, "A bit stale, since it was from yesterday morning, but it's still edible. Now, what else..." Rummaging through the bag again, she resurfaced with a large slab of meat wrapped in parchment. "Ham? Think we've got some bacon in here, too..."  
  
After a few moments without a response, Cécile sat up and stared at Wolf, who didn't seem to be listening. Clambering towards the front to see if he was awake, surely enough his eyes were open, though slightly narrowed. "Steak," Wolf said quietly, licking his lips and teeth in a feral manner.  
  
Staring a bit blankly at him, she shook her head as she sat back on her legs, "I didn't pack any steak." She waited again. He didn't say anything, so the quarter wolf continued talking with a smaller, but still cheerful, smile, "I could cut some of this ham up and make a sandwich or something. Or we could stop and--"  
  
"No steak?" he interrupted suddenly, still not turning his head to look at her.  
  
The blank look returned to Cécile's face as she blinked at him curiously. "No, no steak..."  
  
"Why no steak?" This time, he sounded more irritated than he did disappointed. She thought she almost heard him growl.  
  
Scratching her head, the answer seemed obvious to her. In an obviously hesitant voice, the girl spoke slowly and carefully, "It would spoil... Thought we were in for a long trip, in case we didn't get the wagon, so I only packed preserved goods." All she could hear for another minute or so was the crickets chirping and the steady sound of hooves beating against dirt and stones. Shifting her position uneasily, she inquired in a soft voice, "Wolf?"  
  
Finally, he turned around with glowing yellow eyes and replied, "I need meat. Fresh, red, juicy, succulent...MEAT!" His voice grew from quiet to a loud shout, causing Cécile to wince at the volume. In front of them, the horses neighed and shook their heads, somewhat spooked.  
  
Opening her eyes, she frowned at him and growled, "Oi! Quiet down!"  
  
"But Cécile..." His voice trailed as Wolf looked from side to side; as if discussing this thing called 'meat' was an illegal thing. Looking back at her, he smiled dangerously. "Don't you like steak? Wonderful, sweet, hot steak? Ooooh it makes me want to HOWL!" In fact, he did so, to emphasis the word 'howl.' If the horses were spooked before, they were terrified now.  
  
Cécile shot Wolf a hard look. "Calm down, Wolf. We don't have any steak--" She saw him tense. "But we can get some in the morning, maybe?" She offered. Anything just to get him to calm down, before he did something completely stupid.  
  
He shook his head. "Why wait for tommorrow when we could have it now?"  
  
"Wh-what are you saying...?"  
  
"Surely there's a cabin about here somewhere--a cabin with beautiful, juicy steak...Oh Cécile, they'll never miss it!" Wolf replied anxiously. "Come on, what's a steak between two wolves?" There, he had said it.  
  
"What's gotten into you?" Cécile's voice raised a little as she looked at him questioningly. He feigned an ashamed look.  
  
"Oh Cécile, I can't help it. I was going to have steak today with my lovely Virginia, but ...but..." He let out a whimper. "You know how we are--we have cravings just like our mates..."  
  
"Cravings can wait! We're in the middle of nowhere...!"  
  
The man sighed and looked away from her for a moment. His shoulders sank as he lazily scratched behind his right ear. "Huff puff, I suppose you're right...maybe we should sleep now. It's been a long night for the both of us."  
  
Cécile hesitantly agreed. They were at a point where it was certain the merchant wouldn't be able to catch up with them for at least half a day, and had put a dent in getting to the fourth kingdom. They needed the energy if they were going to save the fourth kingdom, after all.  
  
Wolf watched as Cécile climbed into the back of the wagon and made a make- shift bed from one of the packs they had brought along. Carefully he joined her--at the edge of the wagon, though, as to avoid any further maulings if he should roll over and get too close. If he knew women at all, Cécile wouldn't understand it was an accident. Sigh. Women.  
  
"Goodnight, Wolf." Cécile bade him, before closing her eyes.  
  
Wolf feigned a yawn. "Yes...goodnight, Cécile."  
  
******  
  
"Curling might help, darling."  
  
A soft groan almost erupted from Felcia's lips, yet instead it decided to stay dormant, a mere rumble in the confines of her voice box. As soon as the garbled noise faded into nothing, a saccharine smile graced the girl's lips before she gestured to the teapot in her hand.  
  
"I appreciate your opinion, m'lady," she cooed softly, pouring the slightly obese woman a cup of jasmine tea, "yet I've already tried curling, and it doesn't seem as if it wishes to cooperate." The perfumed cloud from the drink rose up between the duo, and before the snowy-haired lady could comment on the many magical perm treatments available on the market at this point and time, Felcia discretely glided towards the tea counter to place down the pot.  
  
"Now, Fifi," a lanky boy-man purred, leaning over and taking the porcelain vessel from her bony fingers, "don't listen to Old Madame Crawford! Your hair's perfectly fine the way it is, HO-nest." And as if to accent his last word, he tugged on her longest strip of hair, a twinkle in his eye.  
  
"Robert," Felcia stressed, her ordinarily soothing voice crackling slightly, "you know I hate that name." Filmy lace traced a trail across the wood as she grabbed for a platter of petit fours, but a tanned hand lifted them from reach, a brilliant tooth smile replacing where the platter was.  
  
"Oh, Robert!" Felcia chirped in a slightly disgruntled fashion, waving her arms in the air in the general direction of the carefully frosted miniature cakes. "Why must you be such a tease?" Sniffling, she turned her expression towards the young Robert's grinning face, removing her glasses in hopes that it might compound the youth's need to suddenly place down the petit fours in a slow, orderly fashion.  
  
A soft grumble washed across his features as softly as it came from his mouth, his expression more somber as the little cakes nestled themselves in Felcia's fingers. A murmur that one might've been able to interpret as, 'Because you are,' came from his person before Robert smiled uneasily and rumpled her hair. "Oh, only 'cause it's so easy to get your bloomers in a bunch." The familiar grin returned to Robert's face as he watched Felcia shake her head and turn on her heel, ready to serve the elder employer who was currently enjoying her tea.  
  
The tinkle of bells made her head jerk up as she heard a potential customer stride into the tailor's shop. Felcia put on her best smile as she waved to the mystery person in the doorframe.  
  
"Oh, hello there! How may I help you?"  
  
"Good day dearie," The woman who stood in the doorframe greeted her. A tiny smile flashed from inside the powder blue bonnet, as white gloved touched the lady's brown curls. She walked further still inside the little shoppe, green eyes glancing upwards, towards the ceiling. This gesture made her greatly resemble a little girl's doll--before her eyes settled on Felcia again. It seemed as though the lady had forgotten something, and curtsied deeply before the younger girl, before the smile that had been set upon her ruby red lips smiled resurfaced.  
  
"Oh, oh yes. I was wondering if perhaps this is the dress shoppe I was told about--it seems as much, but I never expected anything quite so splendid." Her voice was tiny and childlike, like a bell, as she whirled around once more. The layers of her dress fought to catch up with her, and spun to as stop as once more she faced Felcia. "Truly lovely."  
  
Jagged strips of gold fanned out as Felcia pivoted at the waist like a mechanical doll, first delivering the miniature pastries in front of the miffed Madame, then returning to her original posture with a smile upon her lips. A slight flush came upon the girl's cheeks as the lady curtseyed for her, and she did so in turn on an almost subconscious level, fidgeting with her voluptuous skirts as she arose yet again. For a moment, she forgot how to speak as she glowed with the praise, then she suddenly remembered herself, moving forward a few steps to guide the lady towards a comfortable seat.  
  
"Oh, you're too kind, yet Madame Anita would be pleased from the tips of her toes to the top of her head if she heard you say that, for she's utterly convinced that this place is a mere hole in the wall!" Felcia chirped, starting to sound a bit like a canary as she finally guided the mahogany-locked lady down into a plush armchair. Taking her bonnet, she placed it gently on the opposite chair before nudging a footstool for the girl to rest her legs upon. Turning to get a pot of tea, she called out, "Ah, I'm Felcia--"  
  
However, her crash to the floor prevented her from murmuring the word "Aurek" audibly.  
  
The lady now sitting in the armchair put a hand to her mouth as her eyes widened in concern. She leaned forward, and tilting her head. She let out a soft little gasp, almost like a coo, at the girl, as the smile disappeared from her lips. "Oh, oh my--are you okay, F-Felcia?" Layers and layers of dress built up as she raised herself up to one knee to extend her hand to the golden-haired girl. "That was quite a fall."  
  
A muffle came from the plush carpet as the seamstress's apprentice tried to pick herself up but failed, her face flopping back in contact with the floor. Robert immediately came from around the counter to pick her up and place her straight, dusting the soft green gown in an unusually mother-type fashion. Felcia tried to push him away, slightly annoyed with the attention from the gangly shop boy, but he merely turned her around to the newest customer so she could talk while he made sure that the back of her dress was 'flowing properly.'  
  
With a swat at her companion as he swept a hand deftly over her rear, Felcia's brows wrinkled over her glasses before she shook her head again, beaming cheerfully at the girl. "Oh, I'm perfectly fine," she assured, patting the gloved hand in a motherly fashion, a bright smile spreading across her face. "I'm quite clumsy at times, so it's nothing out of the ordinary." Stopping for a moment, she suddenly looked as if she was quite disappointed in herself before she gazed warmly into her client's eyes. "Now, what might you be needing from this fine establishment, miss? And," she added whilst ignoring Robert's hand on her shoulder with a sniff, "what might I call you?"  
  
"Oh, my name is Eulalia Camilla, but you can just call me Eulalia, dear. Never fond of the name 'miss,' it makes me sound rather old don't you think?" She didn't wait for an answer, the gloved hand was retrieved and tucked beneath her cute little chin. "And I was hoping to commission a special dress from you...I think it would be special in any case; few tailors I've seen are as enthused as you seem to be." Her words were perfect, flawlessly dictioned. Of course, it would be coming from her-- Eulalia was a known well known aristocrat in the eighth kingdom. Or any kingdom, for that matter.  
  
The name was indeed recognized by Felcia, and as any proper young lady would, she curtseyed for Eulalia yet again, her cheeks blushing. Robert, however, didn't seem a whit impressed, yet he still stood by the mussed- haired apprentice, moving whenever she did so that he stayed behind her back no matter what. Although the golden-haired girl was quite annoyed, she tried to keep up her façade of delight over the entire situation, which wasn't entirely difficult for her to do.  
  
"Oh, it's our pleasure!" she gasped, placing a fluttering hand to her throat, fidgeting with the lace around her neck. "There's a few new styles that we've decided to experiment with this season that I might entreat you to try." Leaning back, Felcia surveyed her newest customer, taking in her body shape and coloring before beaming, clapping her hands together. "Oh, there's a few cuts out there that I think you would positively delight in, but allow me to fetch the pattern and fabrics book for you to take a gander at."  
  
As she rose, so did Robert, and soon they made a beeline to the back of the shop, leaving Eulalia without a companion, a soft discord echoing from the back the only evidence showing that Felcia was not pleased.  
  
And there Eulalia sat, quietly making eyes at the rest of the room. It really was a lovely place... She let out a quiet sigh. It was a nice break from her very...active schedule that past few days. Glancing downwards, she wiped away one of strands of her hair away from her face and waited, unaware of what was going on in the back, because her mind was clouded up with the recent developments.  
  
As Felcia tore through the storage in the back, she occasionally would toss a few things in Robert's general direction -- really, whether it be at his head or at his chest. After all, when Felcia was in one of her few moods of aggravation, which Robert tended to invoke in her, she didn't really care what would happen to the sinewy figure behind her.  
  
"Honestly, what are you thinking?" she squeaked, heaving the book into his open arms. Robert merely had a goofy grin upon his face, which Felcia privately observed was a normal occurrence with the infuriating brunette. Stalking down the small footsteps, she stomped up (or tried, for that matter) to the boy. Robert's smirk and the way his shoulders were heaving suggested that he was trying to stifle his amusement at Felcia's latest outburst.  
  
"I was thinking that she had that aura of the magic that you do... but different," he explained, and for once, Felcia felt slightly guilty for wanting to pummel the infuriating boy's skull in. "You know... she has this stuffy feel 'bout her, but yours is light and airy, 'Lcia."  
  
'Lcia.  
  
The name made Felcia's eyes widen, but before she could react at all, a tall yet rather buxom woman burst into the storage area. Before either Robert or Felcia could yelp out, "Madame Anita!" the lady had ushered them both out with whispers of, "We'll discuss this later."  
  
Eulalia looked up to see the people approaching her and she smiled charmingly once again. "Oh, hello again." She nodded to them and then eyed Madam Anita like a child who had done something bad. "I hope I'm not interupting anything of importance.."  
  
"Lala!" a willowy young woman burst into the shop, frantically looking around. "Lala!" she repeated once she set her eyes on Eulalia, "I was so scared, I couldn't find you! Why did you leave me by the uhh..." Her worried expression quickly shifted to confusion. "The place... you left me there..." her voice was sullen, like a small child's.  
  
"Oh..." she had suddenly realized that there were other people there. "Do I know you?"  
  
Felcia blinked at the newcomer, forgetting her manners for a brief minute in favor for gaping mindlessly, making it quite obvious that she was in need of making the proper neural connections for making any decent conversation. Finally, she shook her head in a slow, calculated manner before opening her mouth, yet Madame Anita broke in before any breath could fly from her mouth, placing firm hands upon her shoulders and Robert's, each.  
  
"I believe not, good lady, yet we were but serving your friend here, were we not?" Anita's hands were starting to squeeze a nerve that Felcia had a feeling shouldn't be squeezed. "I'm Goody Anita Brewer, but they call me Madame, most often. And these two scallywags here," she crowed crisply, making Felcia wince (scallywag? SCALLYWAG?), "are my apprentice and shop boy, respectively. Felcia Aurek and Robert Goddard, to be exact." Nudging both of them forward, she gestured towards the duo. "Now, you two help make the good lady and her companion feel right at home, the BOTH OF YOU." And with a bit of a hip-wiggle, she was gone.  
  
With that, Lala--er, Eulalia leaned forward in her seat. "Oh, Dido, darling, it's so nice that you could join me!" She announced, before leaning in even closer and adding in a lower tone, "Er..how are the others?"  
  
Dido grinned and started to say, "Yes! I was sent by..." her voice trailed off, "That person... I was supposed to... err..." She paused to think. "Tell you something? Maybe... Oh, oh, dear... I can't remember..." She looked at the two shopkeeps still standing there, her confused expression still plastered on her face. "Am I supposed to do something, Lala?"  
  
Felcia immediately strode over to the newest customer and placed a gentle arm around one of her shoulders, guiding her to the closest chair to 'Lala,' her slightly uneasy expression replaced with a warm smile that seemed quite genuine. "I hope that you haven't walked too far," the girl cooed soothingly before turning to Robert, taking the pattern book from Robert's arms and placed it in Eulaila's lap. "Now, ah... Eulaila, miss, how about you look through those patterns to see what you like while I gather some refreshments." With that, she turned to the counter, Robert in tow to assist.  
  
The brown haired woman cast a puzzled look to her friend, before opening the book of patterns. Then, she realized she had been given a statement and looked back up to see the retreating form of Felcia. "Oh, oh yes. That would be lovely." She waited for Felcia to exit the room before she all but crawled over into Dido's seat.  
  
"I was hoping you could tell me," Eulalia said troubledly, before smiling. "Oh, no matter dear, you're bound to think of it sometime."  
  
Fat chance.  
  
Dido's brow creased as she looked at Eulalia, "I'm sorry, Lala..." She looked sincerely regretful for a brief moment before she exclaimed, "Oh! What a pretty dress! You'd look good in that, Lala!" She smiled and leafed through a packet of fabric samples, trying to pick out good colors.  
  
"They don't have mixed fruit..."  
  
"I believe you mean periwinkle, don't you, dear?"  
  
"Do I?" she leafed through the samples again, "I guess I do... I think so..." Then she made a small noise that ended that particular sentence. "Why is Lala here, anyways?" She stood up to brush off her skirts and look at a shiny decoration on the wall, forgetting she has asked a question.  
  
Eulalia smiled, albeit she was somewhat confused, before she tapped the green haired girl's hand. "Dear, I'm over here. This is a dress shop... I was thinking I could use a treat. You could too--we've been working so hard recently with .... you know what." Of course, Eulalia wasn't quite sure if Dido would pick up on the 'you know what' part, but she couldn't risk mentioning anything here. With a flip of a page, the lady pointed to a specific design on the page. "Oh Dido, you'd look so splendid in this...! I envy you, you know, you have such a pretty figure..."  
  
Sitting down, Dido looked at the pattern, "But you're really pretty, too, Lala! And people don't seem to mind your hair color as much..." Dido's brilliant teal hair shimmered in the afternoon sunlight. She abruptly stopped, and pulled out some horehound candy from her skirt and started sucking on it. "Want some Lala?" Well, even if she didn't, Dido deposited the candy in her lap before looking around, "Where did those people go?"  
  
"Right here!" a tray of tea and crumpets chirped before they were deposited upon the tabletop, revealing Felcia underneath. Pouring two cups and murmuring questions of, "Would you like cream and sugar with that?" the seamstress made herself quite busy, although she tried not to fit herself between the two as they were doing so. Placing porcelain cups and plates onto the lacy tablecloth, she stood back, rocking back on her heels. Eyes followed the flipping of pages as the two girls fawned over the patterns yet again, until a particular one caught Felcia's eye. Clearing her throat, she leaned over and placed a thin finger below a rather elaborate gown.  
  
"I hope you don't mind me saying so, but this particular pattern's very in vogue this season. You might want to consider it..."  
  
"It's so fancy..." murmured Dido, "You'd look wonderful in it, Lala.... It really suits you." She nodded decisively. "Ooh, ooh!" her eyes widened, "You could wear it to that thingie! That thingie with people and food and dancing!" She bounced in her seat. "You should get it for that, Lala! You'd look so very much pretty!" She grinned and triumphantly bit into a petit four.  
  
Eulalia leaned in closer. "You mean the ball...? But we're only supposed to be there to find the moon princess before the--the others do." Her voice was merely a whisper. "We can't risk that... but I suppose that we'd need to be in--incognito..."  
  
Her voice picked up as she looked up at Felcia, running her fingers through her hair. "Yes, yes, this looks absolutely adorable. I'd like that. Oh Dido, is there anything here you'd like?"  
  
Dido flipped back to the page she had stuck the periwinkle fabric sample in, "I'd like this one, please, Miss lady ma'am."  
  
"I agree with the young lady, Miss Eulalia... the off-shoulder cut is quite the rage, and I think that you would make it look particularly impressive," Felcia chimed in, making a note. "Perhaps in a light rose, or wait... no, no, a mauve. Either way," she added, chewing upon the end of the pencil, "it'll be covered in lace, so you might not be able to tell what color it is exactly, to boot." A soft giggle came from the general direction of the notepad, then she peered over it again at the dress that Dido had chosen.  
  
"Oooh." The curious expression blossomed into a rather admirable one as Felcia grinned at the teal-haired girl. "Very nice. VERY nice, indeed."  
  
"Perhaps in a nice neutral tone, dear?" Eulalia suggested. "You have such pretty hair, it shouldn't have to compete with your dress. Hmm... dusty rose, that would be a splendid color. Or even in mixed fruit--I mean, periwinkle, like you had chosen earlier. Hm?"  
  
Dido nodded vigorously, trusting her entire fashion future in the hands of Eulalia. "I like that per-ri-wink-kle," she carefully enunciated the strange word, "brocade, please, Miss lady ma'am..." Turning to Eulalia, she clasped her hands, "Thingies are wonderful reasons to dress pretty, Lala."  
  
Robert quirked an eyebrow at this, then turned to Felcia, who had clasped her hands and had a rather dreamy expression upon her face, which he could only decipher as the one that she usually had upon mentally completing someone's rather complicated order. Bangs feathered over fingers that covered the boy's eyes as he sighed in a slightly exasperated manner, before walking over to the clump of ladies around the teacup.  
  
"Should I take the books now?"  
  
"Only if you really, really want to..." replied Dido, who was finger- combing her hair since she had forgotten to do it properly this morning. "I don't think the books will run away if you don't..."  
  
"Actually," the shop boy said in a tone quite grave, "they do have a bit of a mind of their own..." The mischief that irradiated from Robert might've been quite apparent to Felcia, from the wicked gate in his posture to the way his eyes sparkled in the morning light. However, the poor girl that he had decided to direct his comments to seemed quite clueless as he strode up, taking the volumes from her hands.  
  
"You see, if we don't take them immediately, they try to escape on their teensy tiny bewitched legs, and THEN!" A sharp hiss of breath seeped both between Felcia's pursed lips and Robert's grinning teeth before his words fell upon their ears in a whisper accented with drama, "Then, the Goody'll munch us whole!"  
  
Before the girls could act in any horrified sort of manner, Felcia did something that she was rarely, if ever bold enough to do: swat Robert in the back of the head, firmly enough that he stumbled forwards into a bow. A scowl had never been one of Felcia's easier or most becoming expressions, yet for Robert, she held a special exception.  
  
"Stop spouting out such nonsense and apologize!"  
  
Dido, to say the least, looked ready to start bawling, clenched gloved hands over her petite mouth and tears already leaking from her dark pink eyes. Which would make sense, since the last thing she wanted to happen was be eaten by an obese seamstress. "I don't wanna be eaten..."  
  
"Oh, no worries miss! I was only jokin', honest!" With some waving of his rather large hands, Robert attempted to soothe Dido's worries, cautiously edging closer to the 'leaking' girl-child. "I meant no harm, honest!" For the first time since Felcia had ever made his acquaintance, Robert looked to her and mouthed what she thought was something from her imagination:  
  
'Help me!'  
  
For a moment, Felcia tried not to giggle. Robert Goddard, asking help from a mere waif? Then, she blinked. Well, really, she would probably be doing the same thing if their roles were reversed, and he would probably be thinking the same thing.  
  
She paused, tapping her chin lightly. Hopefully, he had heard of the word 'benevolence' in his vocabulary before this moment.  
  
"It's the truth," the girl lamented, tugging on a rather short chunk of her sandy-colored hair. "Robert has a horrible sense of humor, and he doesn't quite know how to utilize it in proper conversation. Really, you have to pity him for it." Smiling weakly, she took the books from Robert, patting the covers. "If you wish, you can leave now. The dresses will be ready by tomorrow, for we pride ourselves in our efficiency, and if either the services or the dresses aren't to your liking, you'll either get a discount or the garments entirely free of charge." Sighing heavily, she gazed at Robert.  
  
The small speech had said it all: it was SO obvious that he owed her one. Or, if the two clients were in a particularly horrible mood, he owed the Goody lots of ones.  
  
Eulalia patted Dido on the shoulder, while sniffled pathetically, rubbing tears from her face. "Oh... okay... Eating people isn't very nice... Nor is lying to them... Not nice at all..."  
  
"Don't worry, dear," Eulalia murmured, comforting the young woman and handing her a hankerchief. "And Miss Aurek? Do you not need to take our measurements?" she smiled, letting Felcia know that it was okay that she forgot.  
  
"Measurements?!?" Dido's alarmed voiced chirped through the hankerchief on her face.  
  
"It's alright, Dido, they're for the dresses," soothed Eulalia.  
  
"Oh... I like dresses..." Dido tried to smooth her hair, "Especially mixed fruit colored ones."  
  
With the sudden mention of her slip-up, Felcia was quite certain that she could feel the heat irradiating off of her face, and as if to cover up such an obvious mistake, she placed a hand to her cheek before turning to Robert.  
  
"Um, could you please get a length of measuring tape for me, please?"  
  
The moment Robert left, Dido looked instantly relieved."Will Lala get her measurements first, 'kay?" Dido asked, nervously. "So I can watch?" she added in a sheepish tone of voice.  
  
"Of course, Dido," Eulalia comforted. "It doesn't hurt, I promise."  
  
*************  
  
Broken Fairy Tales: Senshi of the Ten Kingdoms.  
  
Dun dun DAAAAH!  
  
The chapters of this story are taken directly from a play-by-email by the same name. Each of the writers, including myself, have given consent to having their work published under this name, with due credit.  
  
'Of Fiddler Crabs and Kings', episode three of Broken Fairy Tales, was written by Gena, Sushi, Koi, and Carrot. Love you guys! 333  
  
This is a crossover between 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon', and the NBC/Hallmark miniseries 'The Tenth Kingdom', that aired in 1998/1999. 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon' and 'The Tenth Kingdom' do not belong to the people who wrote Broken Fairy tales and we do not claim rights to any of the aforementioned television shows. We do, however, claim rights to our original characters, the Senshi of the Ten Kingdoms. They are copyrighted to their creators.  
  
Are you a fan of sailormoon, the tenth kingdom, or just fairy tales? If you're a good writer and would like to contribute, visit our site at www32.brinkster.com/cwmrpg/broken  
  
We're currently looking for someone to play Sailorneptune and Sailor Commoneo, so if you're interested please check it out. ^_^ 


	4. Steak, Secrets, and Spiders

"In that case," the seamstress replied, pocketing a nice strip of tape in her hand, "I propose that we commence immediately!" Ushering the lady in front of a panel of mirrors, Felcia started to stretch the tape out along her arms and sides, while Robert followed, taking notes on a pad of paper. This made the proceedings quite speedy, albeit not fast enough for no snippets of conversation to flow through.  
  
"Ah... lift your arm up -- yes, yes! Good good... now, what are these gowns for, mi-- er, Eulalia?" she inquired, running a hand through the jagged locks of hair upon her skull. "You chose well, I might add, yet they seem hardly as if for a mere tea party." Looking up, Felcia's eyes sparkled with curiosity.  
  
"Almost as if for a ball."  
  
"Why...why yes. However did you guess?" Eulalia said happily. "But this is just our little secret--no one else is supposed to know." She offered a timid smile.  
  
The mirror across from Eulalia shimmered in the sun. An ordinary person might've thought that this was just a catch of sunlight through the windows- -except there were no windows around. Suddenly, Eulalia put her gloved hand to her mouth and bit softly on her nail. "Oh dear. I suppose we're done, aren't we?" She looked into the mirror, her head tilted down as she squinted. The reflection was hers--but in her eyes the image of someone else was there, looking at her darkly from the other side of the mirror.  
  
"I believe it's your turn, isn't it, Dido?" Eulalia said quickly as she stepped away from the scene.  
  
"Hmm... All right, then..." Dido stepped over to the mirror and held out her arms just like Eulalia. She turned her head to see her reflection, but instead she saw another image. "Oh... oh... dear..." she whispered, her heart sinking into her stomach. She knew she had done something wrong.  
  
It was the same reflection that Eulalia now saw in the broach she held in her hand. Everyone else, however, only saw her and Dido staring at their own reflections; occasionally, one would reach to touch their hair or giggle. That was the way of their magic. As the brown haired girl walked away, the reflection focused on another woman, who began to speak immediately.  
  
"Eulalia, Dido," the voice said calmly, though it was as icy as ever. Through the mirror, half of the woman's body was visible and enlarged to fit the surface. Not much older than the two she was addressing, the woman stood with her arms folded on her chest, head slightly tilted in a silent query as her piercing violet eyes scanned the room behind Eulalia and Dido. Though woman's face lacked any expression, there was a hint of displeasure in her speech that only the two young women could recognize.  
  
"Where are you?" Her grave voice echoed, though only to be heard by the brunette and her green haired girl. The other occupants of the shop were completely unaware that they were being watched. The black haired woman continued to speak without waiting for an answer, "Where is he? Why aren't you at the Palace? We need to finish our preparations soon. You two should know better than to be wandering off at such a vital time as this." Her last words were more exasperated than angry, as though chiding small children.  
  
"Oh, Miss Adrienne," Eulalia soothed in a quiet voice. Only Dido could hear her in the little shop--everything around them seemed to hang in air, frozen in time. "I couldn't find Dido after losing the half wolf, so our mission wasn't completed. She said she had something to tell me, but forgot. Do you think you could enlighten me, dearie?"  
  
Though not fond of the pet name 'dearie', Adrienne merely nodded, not surprised at the least by this news. "I am contacting you here solely for that reason. We all know that Dido doesn't have the most reliable memory." The sentence was stated without pause, as it was fact and not opinion. "I've been informed that the half wolf was recently seen in the 4th Kingdom. While your losing track of him is still inexcusable and unexplained, we will have a second chance of eliminating him when he reaches the palace." Once again, her tone was scolding, but not angry. "Finish whatever business you are doing here quickly, Viator, and bring Oblivio with you. All of us must complete our tasks in time for the event."  
  
"Very well," Eulalia nodded, and bade Adrienne farewell formally. She shut her compact, and the scene returned to normal. The reflection in the dress shop's mirror returned to Dido's normal reflection, although Eulalia was now almost pesteringly hanging over her shoulder.  
  
"Lala..." Dido said quietly, "What am I supposed to do? Rien didn't say so..."  
  
"We should be leaving soon.." Eulalia announced in a polite voice. "For... preparations. For the ball. We're on the royal committee, you know. And Dido, you have to speak to his highness about... the decorative mirrors, remember sweetie? Last time we discussed, he wished to forget all about them."  
  
Dido's face brightened, "Oh, I like Prince Wendell, he seems oh so very nice, does he not?" She picked up her things, a purse and skullcap, which she didn't put on. "I'm ready," she smiled and waited by the door for Eulalia.  
  
"Very well. Oh, and do remember to cover your head, dearie, you're so pale." Eulalia turned to face Felcia, who was putting up the measuring tape and all about tidying up. It was Robert who gave her some trouble, as he seemed to move like driftwood in the tide. "We'll come in soon, Miss Felcia, to check up. It was lovely meeting you!" And with a flourish, she left.  
  
"I don't like her." Robert announced. The golden haired girl looked aghast.  
  
From the corner of ones eye, one could see the two standing over a puddle of water. Perhaps it was a trick of the light--perhaps it was ones imagination, but the two seemed to jump inside it; the last thing that was seen of them was Dido's shoe as it disappeared inside. The puddle rippled, before it was calm again.  
  
*******  
  
Richelle had overslept; or in the least slept far too long for her to be comfortable. With her parents gone and Mariah quit she was in charge of the household. She peeked outside alarmed to see how late it had gotten.  
  
Hurrying out of her parents room she hustled downstairs and tied her apron on securely. Opening the pantry door she stepped through, lit a candle and opened the farthest back door. Her father had, last winter, made it possible for them to save meat and such by packing the ground with ice and then putting the wrapped foods inside the hole.  
  
Richelle wrinkled her nose at the cold, but lifted the hatchdoor to the meats. "I think...hmm...oh yes father's favorite," she reached for the brown covered parcel but held her hand back uncertainly. "Father wouldn't like it if I was to eat some of his prized meat." she murmured. The candle flickered and Richelle shivered. Giving up Richelle grabbed the parcel, slammed the door and was back out into the warm kitchen once more.  
  
Pushing the curtains back she flung open the shutters then jammed the backdoor open to. She didn't wish to die of smoke. She frowned. "I'm sure there's plenty of things out there to kill me instead." she muttered wryly. Tossing some wood onto the firepit she placed the steak--with some difficulty since it was still mostly frozen--on a spit and placed it above the quickening fire.  
  
Humming a small tune she went out to back garden and picked some lettuce and cucumbers for her salad then sharpened the cutting knife. While dicing the cucumber her mind wandered off to Maya's soon to be trip. She knew that Maya's parents meant well, they'd never intentionally hurt her, but the fact remained that for the first time in almost ten years Maya was going off without Richelle.  
  
Richelle had to admit that hurt more then her own parents dashing off without her. Sliding the cucumber slices into a bowl she went to check on the meat. Satisfied the meat was okay she went over to the cupboard and got out the meat base. Mixing that she doused the meat with the marinade and went back to the lettuce.  
  
Her parents were always going off without her, Richelle had long ago accepted this. Her shoulders sagged a little. For the first time she was truly alone. "Of course what do I have to console myself..." she whispered her hand going to the hairstick in her hair. "Sailor Mercury..." she sighed.  
  
After a cursory check on the steak Richelle carried her plate and utensils out into the dining room and began to set her place.  
  
After a cursory check on the steak Richelle carried her plate and utensils out into the dining room and began to set her place.  
  
This was when Wolf decided to crawl out from behind a cabinet, looking from side to side. "Huff puff, she's gone for now.." He sat on his haunches and scratched his ear. Making sure that he was indeed alone, he rose to his feet and walked over to the fire. He was nearly salivating as he looked at the steak.  
  
"Mmm, my love, how I have longed for you so!" He let out in a half howl, half whimper. "Such delicious, juicy, tender steak..." His eyes darted back and forth as his tail wagged. His face suddenly switched emotions as Virginia entered his mind.  
  
"Ooh, Virginiiiiiiaaa.. my creamy dreamy Virginia... I'm so sorry..." He was whimpering pathetically now, clutching his tail. "How could I let my hunger fog my adoration for you! I should have never left Cécile alone!" He paused. "But while, I'm here, I might as well eat..."  
  
Richelle stared at the guy then crept over to the stove and picked up the frying pan. *Mariah should have cleaned this...no I should have before I made...why am I worrying about this now?!* she thought picking up the frying pan and clutching it with both her hands, she held it at her side and crept up on the guy feasting on her dinner.  
  
With a frown she swung the pan back and whapped it as hard across the side of his head as she dared. She only wanted him off her food--not dead. Holding the pan over her head she said in a calm voice, "That was my father's meat you just ate. Now either leave or please be kind enough to sign a paper that states I have every right to kill you."  
  
"Cripes--what is with these girls and blunt objects?" Wolf said as he regained conscious. There was now three girls--not one--looking down at him, spinning in unison like a horses on a carousel. "Papers...? Cripes...you have to sign papers to kill people now...? Am I back in the tenth kingdom again...?" he whined, as he tried to make his world focus again.  
  
Richelle frowned wondering if she had hit him harder then she thought. Taking a step back she relaxed her hold on the frying pan (which truth to tell was hurting her arms). "Tenth kingdom?" she shook her head clearing it. "No, no, it's something my mother used to say when father would upset her."  
  
Standing as far back as the counter she stared at her intruder warily. "Why are you here?"  
  
"Would you believe I was hungry?" Wolf offered, as he slowly pushed himself on his elbows. No such luck for him. He sighed. "Okay, so I'm hungry and I'm here to save the fourth kingdom from terrible danger. Does that sound any better?" Obviously not. "My name is Wolf... thought you might like to know my name before you beat me senseless again and I forget. Huff puff, twice in the same day.."  
  
"Wolf? As in Wolf who helped save the Kingdoms Wolf?" she asked. At once she realized what had happened and let out a chuckle. "Of course! I'm sorry I totally misunderstood...didn't Maya tell you to beware? Honestly...she sent you as a joke didn't she? Be just like her too." she shook her head with a fond smile. "You one of her brothers' friends?" she looked him up and down. "Maybe a friend of the family's?" she suggested after a moment of thought.  
  
She sighed and replaced the pan on the stove. "How silly of me...I should have known that she would try this. Make me feel better since she's leaving..." ignoring the pang that thought brought to her chest Richelle patted her hair. "So what's your real name then?"  
  
"No really... My name is Wolf." Wolf smiled as she came into focus. She was a small girl, with pale features and dark brown eyes. Her black hair hung in a braid. His assailant was dressed plainly, in a dark skirt and white blouse. The apron tied around her waist made her look almost housewifely; but all and all she was an attractive girl. "Do I get to know what your name is?"  
  
Richelle tensed, but decided that if he wished to keep playacting she'd humor him. As long as he didn't try anything--and apologize for stealing her meal--he might even amuse her. "Richelle Schneeweißchen...just call me Richelle." she said, conscious of how ridiculous her name sounded.  
  
Folding her hands in front of her she tried to think of how to explain things. "Listen. I understand that Maya might have told you to keep saying you're Wolf--she knows how much I enjoy that story and is only trying to make me feel better by having you be one of the Heroes. But I simply can't have you here right now. My parents are away and my servant just quit and you ate my dinner." she glared at him momentarily before calming herself. "Now please tell me your name or I will be forced to yell."  
  
"You'll have to yell then," Wolf said calmly, "Because that's my name." He got up to his feet and began walking towards the door. His tail briefly wagged as he looked back at her for a moment, grinning. "Thanks for the steak, though, Richie! I can call you Richie, right?"  
  
"I AM NOT A GUY." she said through clenched teeth. There was no way Maya would send such an annoying man--even if she had under a misguided sense of purpose. Therefore, since he was not only intolerably rude and a real wolf Richelle didn't think she had much choice.  
  
Reaching into her hair she retrieved the hairsticks there and said, quite proudly, "In the name of all that is decent...I will cleanse you of your impurities and make you pay for your cruelty!" Richelle didn't think about the fact that sounded ridiculous since she wasn't transformed.  
  
Grabbing up the pan once more she tossed it at the back of his head and prepared to slam him with the only attack she could think of.  
  
Wolf ducked this time, watching the pan fly over his head. "Cripes, there Richie--I mean, Richelle, let's back up on this whole 'cleansing' thing, okay..? I was just hungry--what's wrong with helping our your local savior of the nine kingdoms? I thought wolves were pardoned in this kingdom, you know!"  
  
"That doesn't mean you go and steal people's dinners without so much as a 'sorry miss but I really would like to share your dinner with you' or an apology!" she retorted brandishing her hairsticks. They weren't much but could probably hurt him if she stabbed hard enough. "Nor does it excuse the fact you wished to call me a boy's name when I everything but a boy!" she added angrily, red faced with indignation.  
  
"And you are NOT that WOLF! He was reported to be much nicer and gentlemanly and have much better manners!" she also said her eyes snapping.  
  
"That's because he had his MATE with him at the time and she was SAFE! Now that...that...thing's going to kill HER, me--if you don't kill me first-- and Wendell! Is this such a time to get mad for me stealing a steak?!" Wolf thundered, standing at his full height. His teeth were bared as he snarled at her.  
  
Unfrightened, Richelle had learned that with being Sailor Mercury she would have to face any number of nasty angry things, Richelle stood taller and glared right back at him. "I am still NOT convinced you are NOT crazy!" she shouted back, perhaps not as loud but with just as much anger. "If you were THAT worried about her and King Wendell why detour to my VERY out of the way house and steal MY dinner?" she demanded. "You are either a horribly overestimated as any sort of protector or incredibly STUPID to forget your mission so easily!"  
  
*********  
  
The vibrant yellow of the afternoon sun was blinding as the wolf-girl rolled over onto her side, creating a loud stir of pots and pans as she ended up on the bag. Cécile quickly lifted a hand to shield her vision and used her other to still the ringing metal. Her body felt stiff all over and her mind was quite dull at the moment. Part of her felt quite restless despite sleeping in, far later than she was used to. Mouth dry with the lingering taste of food, it took a moment for Cécile to fully recall why she wasn't in bed in the little cottage in the woods.  
  
Blinking, she sat up straight, dark braid loose with rogue strands of hair hanging out, and scanned the horizon with wide eyes, "Wolf?" But the halfwolf was nowhere to be found, and he certainly hadn't been a dream if she was still sitting in the wagon in the middle of nowhere. She couldn't even tell if they were still in the Second Kingdom, though the terrain looked quite unfamiliar.  
  
"WOLF!" the girl called out even louder, hoping to get at least a howl of a response. She had been irritated with him by the time she had fallen asleep, but they hadn't been that angry with each other to make him leave her in the wagon. Especially not with both horses, who stirred and neighed softly, knowing that Cécile was awake. Sniffing the air, she caught his distinct scent, leading from off of the seats and away from the wagon, out of sight. There seemed to be no sign of attack or any reason why he had been forced to leave, nothing other than the lingering scent of freshly cooked... "Steak. He left me for *steak*." She rolled her eyes and let out growl under her breath, leaping out of the bed of the wagon to follow his trail.  
  
*********  
  
"Or, I could just be a wolf," He replied quietly, the still air seemed to settle all around him. "For a little girl, you are very brave, you know that? Most people yell and scream at wolves. Much less insult then when they could just....eat you up." Pausing for dramatics, he turned and once again began to leave the house.  
  
This was, of course, right before he bumped into Cécile.  
  
Richelle had to pause thinking maybe he was right. Her parents had said that wolves were driven by very basic instincts. She heard the smack as two bodies bumped into each other and winced at how much that had to have hurt. *Who would be coming to my house...* she wondered suddenly embarrassed by her simple attire.  
  
Dashing to the door she stared down at the tangle of limbs. "Are either of you dead?" she asked doubtfully. "Wait. Who are YOU now?" she demanded of the girl. "His accomplice in this theft?"  
  
It didn't take long for the two wolves to separate and prop themselves up. Hair even more tousled than before, Cécile shot a glare at Wolf, more because he had run off than because of the collision. Shaking her head, she shifted from propping herself on her elbow to sitting upright at the sound of a stranger's voice. Her eyes narrowed even more at the girl's words, her anger first focused on the stranger, and then shifted over to Wolf. "Excuse me? Theft?" Scrambling to her feet, she placed her hands on her hips and growled indignantly to the girl, "First of all, I am NOT a common thief!"  
  
Whipping around to face Wolf, Cécile felt her short braid slap against her back as she stopped, "Second of all, what are you doing in this girl's house?" Her lips pulled back in a snarl, revealing her fang-like canines as she stalked towards him, like a carnivore circling in on its prey. Rather than inquiring gently, her tone was more threatening than maternal, "Is she telling the truth? What'd you steal, Wolf?"  
  
Wolf's smile was somewhat mischievous, like a child who had stolen a cookie before dinner. "A...a steak, Cécile, my dear. Just a steak.." He paused and rolled his eyes, remembering the taste. It merited a small howl. "A very, very delicious steak might I add."  
  
Ignoring the other girl behind her, Cécile raised a fist at the man as if to cuff him in the ears for bad behavior. Instead, she reached for his ear, pinching it tightly, using a method that Grandmother had taught her how to execute quite well. She yanked down to be level with him, "Do I have to keep my eyes on you all the time?! Huff puff! You're old enough to be my father, yet you act like a...a...child!"  
  
Despite his yelping and whimpers, the girl instead turned to Richelle exasperatedly, "I'm sorry about your steak. My..." She paused, trying to decide what to call him. Wary of the other female, she quickly continued, "...uncle, doesn't seem to have much self-control. I'll pay you in full for what he took." She finally let go of Wolf's ear to rifle through her front pocket for a pouch of coins.  
  
Richelle bit back the sarcastic comment she was about to say and took a deep breath. "Your uncle is also a loon." she shot Wolf a glance. "He says he's the legendary Wolf. One of the Four who saved the kingdoms. Also he claims King Wendell is about to be killed as well as himself and his mate." she glared at Wolf again.  
  
Raising a brow, Cécile was careful to not reveal any amusement at the fact that their hostess (of sorts) didn't know that Wolf was no liar, or a lunatic. However, it wasn't just out of caution that she kept a cool expression, but also because she was still severely displeased and currently disillusioned. Her 'hero' for the past six months had turned out to be quite a fool who required her, of all people, to make sure that he didn't get into too much trouble. Not to mention the fact that he had almost blown their cover, if the girl had actually believed him. One never knew who they could trust, especially when someone was after the Four who saved the nine kingdoms...  
  
"Don't bother me with your money. Father can always replace it if he even misses it when he gets back..." Richelle didn't add how guilty she felt for having given the impression she wanted money from the girl. She had enough problems. Sighing she waved a hand. "If you would give me a moment to change, you both can stay for a proper meal. I need the company and Mother would have a fit if she knew I had turned away guests--even if one is highly suspect."  
  
At her words, Cécile replaced her money and stared hard at the other girl. Her pride didn't like the way Richelle phrased her words, nor the fact that she wouldn't accept the coins and let them go off on their way... But logic presided over stubborn pride. Why pass up a free meal? They would probably need to save all the money they had, incase their journey went awry later. Glancing back at Wolf, the baker decided to make the executive decisions between the two of them, regardless of age or of reputation. It had become evident that he was going to get them into more trouble than was necessary if she let him handle things.  
  
Turning back to Richelle, she nodded and straightened her clothes. "We accept your invitation. Thank you for your hospitality," Cécile replied in a formal tone. Despite the fact that the girl was smaller and apparently younger looking than herself, it was her mannerisms and polite words that made the baker feel like a country bumpkin in comparison. Idly lifting a hand to scratch the side of her head, she nearly brushed away the hair that hung over her left eye, though froze before it was too late. Unaware of the fact that Richelle already knew what Wolf was, Cécile awkwardly shoved her hand forward instead, "I'm Cécile, and this is...er..." She glanced back to Wolf, hoping that he got the hint.  
  
"Warren Wolfson, my dear," Wolf introduced himself, smiling at his old alias. He had used it once before in the little lamb village in order to keep himself out of trouble--hopefully it would do the same for him here. "I suppose we had a misunderstanding back there."  
  
"I suppose you did," Cécile said sharply and from there, it was dismissed. Dusting himself off, Wolf looked up at Richelle and tried to look the part of an addle-minded man, though he wasn't quite sure how he could pull that off with a simple glance alone.  
  
Richelle nodded motioning them in. She was relieved the whole matter was settled so quickly. She wasn't sure what she would have done if either turned out to be less then what they said. "If you wouldn't mind please wait in the parlour?" she gestured to the door at her left. "I'll be right with you both. Steaks I presume are okay?" With a cordial nod she hurried up to her room and quickly changed.  
  
Dashing about the kitchen she got three more steaks out, not of the same cut as the original, but then despite her earlier words she knew her father would notice the meat was gone and she couldn't explain away four cuts. Quickly putting them over the fire she chopped the remaining vegetables, chilled some lemonade and set the dining room table in record time.  
  
Returning to the parlour Richelle removed her apron and smoothed her clothing. With a polite smile she entered the room. "I'm sorry about my earlier rudeness. Today has been a...stressful day. My name is Richelle Schneeweißchen and currently I am the Lady of the house." taking her customary seat on the chaste lounge she folded her hands in her lap and regarded her guests. "Where are you traveling to? This town isn't exactly off the main road."  
  
It was difficult to conceal the awe that the baker felt when she stepped into the parlour of the younger girl, the entire house far larger than her quaint little cottage in the woods. The fact that there was a parlour room, and not merely an extension of the kitchen, was astonishing enough. But she quickly muted her curiosity to exchange words with Wolf once they settled in to wait.  
  
Cécile's voice went quiet as their hostess entered the room and folded her hands neatly on her lap, eyeing 'Warren' to allow her to do the talking. He was, after all, a loon, as the girl had put. Forcing a polite smile, she opened her mouth to answer Richelle's question. "Grandmother's--" both wolves began in unison, though stopped to look at each other. Wolf shrugged in response to Cécile's stiff glance. She coughed slightly, turning back to the girl, "We're visiting my grandmother's home, in the Fourth Kingdom."  
  
"She's very, very ill..." Wolf began clearly, though it turned into a sort of odd mumble. He turned his head down and scratched the side of it, almost like a twitch. Cécile nodded slowly in agreement and shifted in her seat beside him, sending looks back and forth between Richelle and Wolf.  
  
"You see, we don't visit her often, so we got a little lost on the way," the girl explained, sounding calm as ever despite the blatent lies she was spewing. She didn't like to do this, but there was no other choice -- as kind as this Richelle had seemed, they didn't know who to trust out here. Cécile continued to gesture towards the man, avoiding eye contact with their hostess, "I sent Wol--Warren to find help, but he apparently got a bit sidetracked." Letting out a nervous chuckle, she began to raise her hand to scratch the side of her head again, but stopped herself quickly.  
  
Richelle smiled politely and raised an eyebrow. "Really at first I thought he was sent by my friend Maya to cheer me up. She knows how much I have enjoyed the story since my parents first told it to me, and it would be just like Maya to just hire anyone off the street." she shook her head tossing her braid back behind her back. "Then well...I'm glad he has someone watching after him. It must be hard though." she said sympathetically, or what she thought was sympathetically.  
  
Standing she inclined her head to the other two. "Would you care to join me? I don't know how you wish your steaks done..." she murmured.  
  
"Er...rare.." Wolf said, not waiting for Cécile to respond for him. "Y-yes, very rare...." He looked to Cécile, his head cocked as he scratched behind his ear, sort of in a gesture pointing at Richelle.  
  
Richelle frowned. "Oh well I just put them on so they shouldn't be too cooked yet..." she said trailing off as she headed into the kitchen. Sliding two of the steaks out she put hers directly over the fire to cook it quicker and slid the other two onto plates. "Do you guys want salad?" she asked popping her head quickly into the parlor.  
  
Rising to follow, the pair of wolves stopped as the girl poked her head back in, freezing as though she had caught them in a suspicious moment. However, Wolf was the first to reply before Cécile could stop him. Luckily, he had become accustomed to his adopted behavioral pattern, and scratched his head again, as though it were a twitch. The feral grin returned to his face as thoughts of steak returned to him, "No, just meat. Just luscious, savory--"  
  
The baker at his side elbowed him, before smiling warmly at the girl. "Ah... I'll have a salad, if you've already got it prepared. Otherwise, you don't need to go to any trouble..." Cécile felt guilty enough lying to the girl about their destination and about who they really were, especially when Richelle had been so honest to them about her friend. It was also a naïve choice to tell perfect strangers about her life. Fortunately, neither Wolf or Cécile were any threat to her, and only wanted a meal before heading off to meet danger.  
  
"I just have the greens chopped. It's no problem." Richelle reassured her ducking back into the kitchen. She wondered if she was being perhaps too nice to these people who she really didn't know anything about.  
  
'Grandmother's house? Excuse me if that sounds a little bit...typical..' Richelle thought skeptically.  
  
Speaking of which, judging by the position of the sun when she had awoken, they didn't have much time to get to Wendell's Palace and prevent the death of the King of the Fourth Kingdom. In fact, they didn't even know where they were, or if they were too late already. Cécile's eyes widened in sudden panic, "Um... There hasn't been any news of danger...involving the King, lately, has there?" It was only after saying this did she begin to calm herself and conceal the nervousness in her voice, "And, er, could you tell us how far it is from his Palace? I'm afraid we're rather lost without a map, and we only know how to get to Grandmother's using landmarks..." Hopefully their hostess didn't inquire anymore about their directions, seeing as Cécile knew very, very little about the geography outside of her own Second Kingdom.  
  
Richelle shrugged. "Only danger I have seen is your...uncle." Richelle answered equably, putting some greens into a couple of wooden bowls. Turning she handed the bowl to Cecile and the semi-rare steak to Wolf. Balancing her own bowl on her plate she carried the rest of the dishware into the dining room and set hers down. "Does your grandmother live at the palace then? Just go past the cedar pine grove, take a left at the statue of the old King and then continue about a day and a half. Should take you to the gates." she told them cutting her steak up.  
  
She was, of course, fibbing a little. If they truly knew the way then they'd know she was lying, and about which part, they'd correct her. If not...well maybe today Sailormercury would be needed.  
  
Wolf thought for a moment, scratching his head. "Huff puff, that doesn't seem to be the way I remember." Of course, last time he had went to Wendell's palace, it had been while he was fearing for his dear Virginia's safety, as well as being chased by trolls. It had not been the greatest of times to remember things like landmarks.  
  
"Grandmother? At the palace? Oh... Why, no, just a few miles beyond that," Cécile almost sputtered at the thought of her grandmother living in a luxurious setting. She shook her head and glanced to her companion, following Wolf's lead. He knew better than she did about the area, since he had 'worked' there temporarily. Despite his former errors of making them into thieves and getting them into trouble, the man was much smarter once he was pointed in the right direction. "And...hmm, no. I don't recall the places you described. Are you...sure?" Cécile frowned as she idly reached up to touch her neck.  
  
Could this girl be some sort of spy, trying to throw them off? As nice and innocent as Richelle seemed to be, it seemed that Cécile's suspicions weren't completely unfounded. Though Grandmother told her never to do it again, she realized that she might have to transform once more if this girl was aligned with someone who could pull people through mirrors. Only Sailormars could protect Wolf from that sort of danger, not the common baker, Cécile Follet.  
  
Richelle frowned and chewed her steak slowly. "I'm fairly certain. Mother outlined the way to me one day, in case I should fall into a bit of trouble." Which was true. "Though I might also be a bit confused," she shrugged wiping her mouth. "Are you two thirsty?" she asked with a smile. Pushing back her chair she placed her napkin next to her plate and stood to the side. "I'm a mite thirsty myself."  
  
"That sounds nice," Wolf replied. He grinned at her, two canines peeking out from the row of pearly whites. The end result was a cross between looking vicious and looking like an idiot. Tilting his head to the side, he shoved a piece of steak in his mouth and savored it, his eyes rolling back into his head. "Oh this is beautiful. Savory, luscious, and light! Such perfect steak!"  
  
Richelle raised an eyebrow at Wolf. "I'm sure my father would love to hear that..." she murmured hurrying into the kitchen to grab some lemonade or water, whichever was chilled at the moment. Silently she wondered if her mother would notice scuff marks and possible blood if a fight did occur. Picking up the tray of lemonade she hastened back to the dining room. "I'm sorry to put a damper on our...visit, but I am due at the Widow Ritcher's home in a hour to heat up her meal. Can we please cut the chatter and speak plainly?" she asked politely, handing a glass to each person. "I don't say this to be rude, only I don't feel safe either sending you off to your 'grandmother's' nor allowing you to stay here in this town."  
  
*******  
  
The seventh kingdom was a pleasant place for traveling. Besides its dense, humid forests and bogs that seemed to plague the area that she and Gio were traveling through, it was home to colorful wildlife that someone from the tenth kingdom could only dream about. Talking birds filled the air with song and conversation--occasionally, a fae would fly by the carriage window and send a mirky glow inside the cabin where Alice was situated.  
  
However, this did not stop Alice from being completely and totally miserable.  
  
Possibly one of the most ridiculous things bestowed upon mankind was motion sickness. Why should humans feel nauseated just from traveling in or on something other than their feet, Alice couldn't decide. Either way, she was hot, carriage-sick and desperately wishing for some tums, dramamine, or even just ginger root. She wasn't even sure if the Nine Kingdoms *had* ginger root. Sighing, she gazed out the window, knowing thinking about it and/or whining was not going make it better. But the fairies making faces at her definitely didn't help.  
  
Gio, on the other hand, was having a splendid time. The first top buttons of Gio's dress shirt were unbuttoned, exposing Gio's wooden joints, and the tophat the puppet usually wore was cast aside. No one was here to gawk and stare at her; and for that, she relaxed a little. Alice was tucked away inside the carriage--thank goodness, this scene was too pretty to be marred by sarcasm. Gio liked the eighth kingdom; unlike the other seven kingdoms, it laid untouched by the hands of royality. Elves and fae folk were like that, and their naturalistic approach was what the wooden carriage driver liked best about them. With a sigh of content, Gio whipped the reigns a little, sending a small wave of motion down to the horses, who responded by taking the curve in the round smoothly.  
  
Though she didn't like to think about things so much as just go on and live her life, Gio couldn't help but wonder. Who would this Sailorneptune be? He, or she, could be anyone at anywhere. Certainly, Gio wasn't the type to say that something was hopeless, but the thought of exploring all of the nine kingdoms for these...'senshi', it was just a little overwhelming. And once they did find them, would they be willing to help?  
  
Alice stared at the carriage door ruefully, another fairy whizzing by and returning to mock her. Green everything flashed past the window. Outside the window was Gio. That was a problem. But there was also cool, fresh air and horizon to watch. After carefully weighing the options, Alice opened the door as quietly as she could, momentarily pausing to consider grabbing a fairy and chucking it away. But since it took both hands to keep herself attached to the door, she decided that point was moot and clambered on top of the carriage.  
  
"You're a might bit brave to climb up the side of the carriage like that," Gio said, unstirring from her position. "I wouldn't have minded stopping for a moment, you know." Her rust red hair whipped against her face, reflections of light casting sunrise-like patterns across it as they went under a canopy of trees.  
  
"I laugh in the face of danger, ho ho," Alice said in a dead pan tone of voice as she sat with her legs folded. Her own hair had decided to take the chance to run wild and free, mostly getting into her mouth. The fairies seemed to have, for the most part, fled at the prospect of their point of amusement being able to fight back. Alice ducked a low hanging vine and asked, "Where are we going first, anyhow?"  
  
"Dunno. Not many open towns out here in the eighth kingdom, you know." Upon saying this, Gio realized that Alice probably *didn't* know, and therefore decided to explain. "The Eighth kingdom is ruled by the elves and fae folk, as you might've guessed. They aren't particularly fond of people--I can see why though. And they're mostly nature-oriented people, so there aren't many villages or towns. Keeps the money grubbing people away."  
  
"Oh goody... I suppose you don't have senshi detectors either, hm?" she replied, tackling her hair with some string from her pocket. "And we can only tell if they're senshi by their transformation or symbol on their forehead... The proverbial needle sounds easier to find."  
  
"Not my idea of a picnic either," Gio said gruffly as they swung down another, more narrow path. The woods grew more dense. "But I'm sure they'll have some sort of...well, magic aura about them. Like you and I, though mine is a tad more apparent. I think the tenth kingdom wore off yours a long time ago."  
  
Alice gripped the sides of the carriage as it turned and the road became rougher. "I was never big on magic shows," she murmured, ducking more branches. The light was dimming from thicker foliage. "How do we know we're not heading into some death trap, by the by?"  
  
"I can admit that the seventh kingdom is... a bit more sinister than the others," The red haired girl shouted over the sound of horse hooves. "But there's two of us now, surely together we can rid ourselves of anything that isn't too serious. Anything bigger than that, well, that's a chance we're going to have to take."  
  
"That's so-" but before Alice had a chance to finish her sentence, a particularly nasty bump dislodged her death grip and launched her into the air. She emitted a rather undignified squeal and almost landed on the ground instead of the carriage with a muffled thump. By the time this had occurred, her eyes were the size of teacup saucers. She scrambled in a more dignified position and changed her expression to the classically feline, "That didn't happen."  
  
And Gio, poor, poor Gio, had sat there the entire time with a blank expression. She didn't make a noise when Alice proceeded to make a fool of herself, but as she saw Alice sit up from the corner of her eye, she couldn't stand it anymore. The slightest smile was on Gio's face. The smile turned into a chuckle--not an ill-natured one, mind you. It was one of the most sincere things in the world. She closed her eyes as she heaved, laughing for a few minutes.  
  
Alice sighed, massaging her temples, "This is a mirror world, the people don't laugh at the puppets, the puppets laugh at the people."  
  
The laughter didn't stop there. It didn't stop for several minutes, but finally, a panting, smiling Gio looked up at Alice. Gio tried her goshdarndest not to laugh anymore, but it was futile. Eventually, her sober expression broke again as she all but fell from the carriage herself. "There's a twig in your hair."  
  
Alarmed, Alice untied the string and finger-combed her hair, removing the offending twig. Then she braided her hair back with practiced ease and threw her hood up to keep any other unwelcome object out of her splendid tresses. And good thing she did, the woods had quickly changed from deciduous forest to thistles and bracken. No more fairies flew to and fro. In fact, there was hardly any animal life to be seen, with the small exceptions of crows and black squirrels. Unnerved, she pulled the rest of her coat on and zipped it up.  
  
"I think we're in the Eighth Kingdom now..."  
  
"And you think I'm an idiot," Gio said quietly. She tucked her hat back on her head with a quick pat, as well as pulled her coat back completely over her shoulders. There was not the slightest bit of fear on her face--rather, she just flicked the reigns her hands, made a reaffirming noise to her horses, and continued driving.  
  
"I'd like to remind you, I don't live here," she replied venomously. Alice had set her hand on her mace, just in case.  
  
"I'd also like to remind you, niether do I." Gio said bluntly. "Don't have many customers that roll out of bed one day and decide that they too want to visit a spooky old kingdom for kicks, y'know? Funny how that is."  
  
"Funny how you've forgotten to mention that we have to pass through a spooky old kingdom," Alice shivered. "... .... What the hell is that?!" She was pointing to a black object looming the the distance. The object, easily discerned as a castle, was composed of many guard towers and surrounded by the same thorn bushes as the path. Alice guessed it to be about fifty meters high, maybe more. Either way, she knew for a fact that black castles are always bad.  
  
"You know, for a know-it-all, you don't know very much." Gio said as she tilted the brim of her hat up to see the upcoming castle. "It's one of the abandoned castles. They're all over the place, from the golden age when this kingdom was prosperous. I doubt anyone lives in there now."  
  
"Yes, all abandoned castles have a few lit up windows," she pulled her coat tighter, "and I shall mention yet again, I live in the Tenth Kingdom. I know about that."  
  
"I suppose you just get stupid when you're scared then?" Gio replied. The road seemed to lead right up to the castle. Lovely. Gio squinted at the aforementioned lit windows. "It's probably some ancient old family. We could stop and ask for directions--"  
  
"My witty repartee is utterly wasted on you..." Alice shook her head. "And let's do stop and ask directions, I'd like to leave this place as soon as possible."  
  
"Well that's one thing we can agree on." As they approached the front gates, they slid aside with a loud creak. The horses were spooked at this and Gio sent an assuring coo at them and tensed her hands on the reigns. Her eyes widened as she stared up at the castle in all of its size; it seemed like there were too many windows to count.  
  
Alice quickly looked around, trying to grasp the size and layout of the castle. The keep shortly followed the outer wall, leaving little to no courtyard. The actual walls were enveloped with bramble, making the outline indistinct. "Why do I get the feeling that this place has bad karma and I will soon be employing the phrase "told you so"?" she muttered inaudibly.  
  
"And why do I get the feeling that I'll be picking up your remains because you were too busy saying 'told you so' to notice that there was a large monster breathing down your neck," Gio answered. She was obviously getting irritated. "Making smartass comments isn't really going to help this situation, now is it?" The carriage had stopped, and Gio looked at Alice one last time with a look that could only be defined as reprimanding. She didn't wait for an answer.  
  
Gio hopped off the driver's seat, landed, and began to walk towards the entrance--a moatless drawbridge that stretched out to meet them. Hesitantly, she removed the marionette from her coat pocket. As the last of her rust-red coat tails disappeared into the small courtyard, she didn't even glance back at Alice.  
  
Pausing to remember that she was better than Gio and shouldn't sink to her level, Alice slid off the carriage top and speed walked towards Gio. Yes, she was stupid. But it was better to have a psychotic puppet murderess in front of you than behind you.  
  
"Grab the torch to the side of you, would you?" Gio directed. From the corner of her eye she saw an extension of the courtyard, with higher, enclosed walls covered in ivy. Waiting up for Alice--she did, after all, have the light and at least that was a little useful--Gio leaned against the stone wall, her eyes casting up to the tallest tower of the castle above her. Good luck trying to find a person in there.  
  
Alice grabbed the torch and produced a lighter from her coat pockets. After several attempts, she got the wicker to catch and waited a moment while the fire established itself before walking over to Gio. She asked, "Which way are we going, fearless leader?" while holding the torch above her head so the light would be cast wider.  
  
"This way," Gio answered as they walked down the corridor. The air suddenly grew old and musty; the smell of decay was everywhere. "Not exactly my idea of good house keeping."  
  
"Ugh," Alice murmured, one hand over her mouth. The torchlight kept flickering as spider webs were caught in the flames. She was beginning to regret wearing sandals, she kept stubbing her toes on loose stones and rubble. The corridor lead to a sparely decorated hall with two staircases lain thick with debris. Alice half-expected to see a good centimeter of dust everywhere, but it was quite lacking.  
  
There was something black in the corner. At first, it looked like a black sheet had been laid over a large piece of furniture; but furniture does not breathe. Whatever it was, it was probably bigger than one of Gio's horses. "Alice... walk backward with the light...slowly now.."  
  
Now they knew why there wasn't much dust. Alice took a step backward, then two, and before she knew it, the top of the door frame had knocked the torch out of her hand. "Shit!" she clutched her burned hand to her chest, trying to reach the torch before the flickering light extinguished. Too late.  
  
"Sorry, gio..."  
  
"S'all right," Gio said, but it was quickly drowned out by the sound of something terrible. It was high and eat-splitting, but yet so intense that the very stone beneath their feet shook. The black thing moved--black legs, like foot-thick barbed wire, sprouted from everywhere. As it turned, several red eyes pierced the now-black room.  
  
"Alice!" Gio shouted over the cries, "Transform!"  
  
Alice, who had thrown herself over in a less occupied corner, and no idea what she was supposed to do. Her hand was scorched and she was about to be eaten by a giant spider, bad 1950s sci-fi movie style. Naturally, all sailor senshi have safety switches for times like these, and Alice's was just flipped.  
  
A ghostly form materialized in front of Alice. A little girl, no older than eight, limned in light and wearing a blue pinafore and white apron. She smiled at Alice and took a card from her apron pocket. "Go, you can help your friend now." She handed the card to Alice and smiled again, brushing off her skirt and evaporating.  
  
Now all this was very shocking to Alice, who was very sure for a moment that her terror had induced hallucinations. But the card seemed to know what needed to be done, and shouted at Alice. "GO KNOCK THEIR 'EADS OFF, YOU NINNY!" Startled, Alice tossed the card, causing it to rain card symbols and change her civilian clothes into senshi fuku.  
  
She was Sailorpluto now.  
  
At the same time, Gio's body was covered in string as she twisted around in midair. As she landed, the strings exploded--leaving her vaguely puppet- like fuku behind. There was no time for speeches or directions to give Alice now, because the spider lunged at the puppet senshi, tearing cobblestone up as it came closer.  
  
"MARIONETTE!" Sailoruranus cried as she swung the marionette around like a boomerang. Strings appeared from the edges of the marionette and she held onto the ends with white-gloved hands. Swinging in mid air, Sailoruranus planted herself firmly on the back of the creature, the marionette making a complete circle and landing in Gio's free hand. She held onto the strings, which had encircled the monster's head, like the reigns of a horse with her other.  
  
Obviously, the spider wasn't too happy about that. Like a bucking bronco, Sailoruranus was thrown into the air several times, each time coming down with a thunderous impact on the monster. "Whoa there!" She shouted as she pulled back on the reigns in an attempt to choke it.  
  
Shielding her face from debris, Pluto ran to the opposite corner once more. But since Uranus was a little too busy to teach Pluto the ropes, it was up to the Queen of Spades card again. "Psst! Throw me!"  
  
"... What?"  
  
"SHUT YER TRAP AND THROW ME AT THE BLOODY SPIDER!"  
  
Pluto was too enthusiastic to comply. As she flung the card at the spider, unbidden words came to her lips, "Royal Flush!" The card multiplied into five different cards, each one striking an eye.  
  
"Take that, hell-spawn of Arachne!!" She shouted after hearing the satisfactory scream of pain following the attack.  
  
"At least someone knows what they're doing!" Sailoruranus commented as she was swung in the air by the rearing spider, who was now legally blind. The string that had held the spider disappeared and the marionette and the red haired senshi both went flying through the air. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Her scream suddenly came to a hault as she hit the stone wall with an almost comical 'thunk' noise. She slid down, landing on her head, the marionette falling beside her.  
  
The cards returned to Pluto's hand, surprisingly free of blood and gore, "Round two!" She stepped forward and threw the cards again, this time aiming for it's soft under-belly as it reared on its back legs. The razor- sharp cards passed though the abdomen, spraying spider guts as they exited.  
  
"Ewww."  
  
After a few minutes of laying there senseless, Uranus' legs flipped over her head and she found herself kneeling on her marionette. As she stood, she surveyed the situation. Her magical attacks wouldn't work here--but Alice's could. If she could find a way to help her... An idea came to mind and Sailoruranus threw the marionette as hard as she could in the direction of the spider, who was descending from its full height now that Alice had nearly disemboweled it. The strings that exploded from the ends of the marrionette reached out to wrap around the spider's legs as it made a full circle. Once the movement had been completed, the marionette crashed into the ground, tightening the cord that bound the spider's legs and down the monster went.  
  
"Good idea, Uranus! Royal Flush!!" she flung her cards for the third and final time, each card striking a vital organ. The spider screeched and wriggled as life left it, Pluto grimacing at the bloody, gory mess. Once the spider had stopped squirming, the cards returned to her hand, clean as ever. And since now she had time to think, Pluto realized something was wrong. Terribly wrong. "WHAT am I WEARING?!" she cried, looking over her short-skirted pinafore and mary janes.  
  
Sailoruranus couldn't help but laugh. "Er...welcome to the club of corny sailor uniforms." She said with a flourish and a little bow, showing off her costume. In battle, it was okay, but once you got over the fact that you were gonna be killed and ate for lunch, it was ridiculous to be seen in. "But I think everything's fixed here. We can detransform now."  
  
"Errr, right." Pluto pocketed her card and her fuku vanished and was quickly replaced with her civilian clothing. "I do hope that we don't have to do that again." She knelt down where she dropped the torch and searched with her hands. She found the torch within an agonizing minute and re-lit it. "There are two stairways going up and one going down," Alice said, peering about in the dim light. "Left or right?"  
  
*************  
  
Broken Fairy Tales: Senshi of the Ten Kingdoms.  
  
Mmm. Cliffhangery goodness. :D  
  
The chapters of this story are taken directly from a play-by-email by the same name. Each of the writers, including myself, have given consent to having their work published under this name, with due credit.  
  
'Steak, Secrets, and Spiders', episode four of Broken Fairy Tales, was written by Gena, Sushi, Koi, Alex, and Carrot. Love you guys! 3  
  
This is a crossover between 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon', and the NBC/Hallmark miniseries 'The Tenth Kingdom', that aired in 1998/1999. 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon' and 'The Tenth Kingdom' do not belong to the people who wrote Broken Fairy tales and we do not claim rights to any of the aforementioned television shows. We do, however, claim rights to our original characters, the Senshi of the Ten Kingdoms. They are copyrighted to their creators.  
  
Are you a fan of sailormoon, the tenth kingdom, or just fairy tales? If you're a good writer and would like to contribute, visit our site at www32.brinkster.com/cwmrpg/broken  
  
We're currently looking for someone to play Sailorneptune and Sailor Commoneo, so if you're interested please check it out. ^_^ 


	5. Something Wicked This Way Comes

The sun rose and fell on a young woman toiling diligently over battered binding and tattered pages. Dust rose in clouds from the numerous shelves, the work of two foxes swishing their tails along the old wood. Silence was the order of the day, and most days, but that was the way Rabe liked it, and that was the way it had always been. As a new day dawned fresh in the world of the living, the pseudo-hermit librarian lifted her head from her work and stretched. Sunlight fell through the windows like waterfalls, drenching the dusty floorboards with golden warmth and sparking Rabe to leave the Library for a while. She was beginning to get up and go home for food when the door opened.  
  
Bella entered the library, her dress ripped. She giggled out of the irony of being in a library the way she looked. She saw Rabe sitting at the desk and smiled. Flicking her chocolate hair over her shoulder, she continued to walk through the rows of books. Bella sighed, closing her ice blue eyes and inhaled the smell of the books.  
  
Her fingers brushed against the spine of an art book and she narrowed her eyes, attempting to read the letters. She'd never been very good at this 'reading' thing. Her fingers brushed off clots of dust as she pulled one out. She opened the decaying book to see marvelous paintings. She grinned down at them but then shook her head and placed it back on the shelf. After she'd looked through numerous books she finally sighed loudly and sat down on the stool she'd been using to reach the books.  
  
Rabe meandered over to her, attempting to hide the fact that she was REALLY excited to have someone looking for something other than an almanac. As she gently tapped on the stranger's shoulder, the foxes rubbed against her legs in hopes of catching a glimpse up her skirt. Rabe pushed them away with her foot.  
  
"Need some help?"  
  
Bella turned to look at Rabe. "Oh." She grinned. "Yes actually, I'm looking for a book about drawing portraits." Raising an eyebrow at Rabe she motioned for her to show her the way.  
  
Trying to bottle her eagerness for later use, the librarian led the way down the aisle. She turned once to the left, and once more to the right almost immediately after. This led them to a large wall that was badly in need of a dusting. Rabe frowned.  
  
"I need to work on that...Well, here you are. Lots to choose from, so take as long as you want. As soon as you've picked, bring them up to the front de-"  
  
She was interrupted by a large crash, as the wall was blown inward and a cackling maniac in green landed on the ruin of torn pages and scattered masterpieces. What appeared to be a small leprechaun was standing in the rubble. It immediately began chucking books at the two females it spotted, yelling things that probably shouldn't be repeated.  
  
Rabe's eyes narrowed, a crossed lowercase 'h' glowed on her forehead, and the foxes knew enough to step back as they heard organ music play. She had completely forgotten there was someone else in the room, what with that being a very rare occurance indeed.  
  
Bella let out a terrified scream as they tiny little bugger made it's way into the library. Noticing the 'h' on Rabe's forehead her eyes widened a little and took her 'friend's' transformation as a hint. The Chicago Overture played in a fast tempo as she, herself, was raised into the air and began to spin.  
  
As Sailorsaturn finished her transformation, she glanced over to see her patron doing the same. She blinked, wide-eyed, and gave the leprechaun enough time to start a rain of Fae gold in the library.  
  
"That's it, you're going to ruin the rest of my books that way. The pen is mightier than the sword! I am Sailorsaturn!" She began to spin her Quill, readying herself to attack. The leprechaun only watched, becoming slightly dizzy in the process.  
  
As Bella's--I mean Sailorvenus's feet touched the floor she quickly noticed Sailorsaturn's "speech" and decided quickly to make up her own. A thought shot to her head and before she knew what she was doing the words tumbled from her mouth. "You could call me the mistress of muderers, The carrier of sleep! I am your worst dream... Die!" Her eyes became a mysterious dark blue and her princess tiara shimmered.  
  
She raised an eyebrow and looked down at the little thingy running around. That thing seriously freaked her out. She looked over at Sailorsaturn and gave her a quizzical look.  
  
This was met only with a very scary grin. You don't mess with a librarian's books.  
  
"Needle Impact!" Sailorsatrun threw her Quill, landing it square above the leprechauns head. It paused in it's onslaught of literature to look up. It looked back at her and pointed, laughing.  
  
"You miss-OWOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!" He was set into a scatterbained dance to avoid feather daggers, and was attempting to cover his head with his arms.  
  
Sailorvenus looked at the leprechaun to Sailorsaturn and back again. This was her chance to shine. She grinned and stared at the little bugger. "HEY!" She yelled at it. It stopped from it's screaming and stared. It's little green eyes bugging out at her. It once again started screaming "OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!" and jumping around. "That's it." She muttered under her breath.  
  
"VENUS" Sailorvenus lifted her long arms into the air an flung open her hands, fanning them out. "SLEEPING" A white power appeared out from inbetween her hands, shooting at the little, deformed, munchkin. "POWDER!" The powder shot at the leprechaun and wherever it touched the things skin the skin ripped off, leaven open gashes on his skin.  
  
"AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!" The leprechaun's now even more deformed face screamed out at them. Sailorv ran over to Sailorsaturn. "My attack wasn't strong enough," She gripped onto the other girls hand. "We need to combine.. or do something!"  
  
"Gah! I don't know! I can't do much else except...Well, destroy everything. And...That's not a good idea. Maybe we could..." The girl's mismatched eyes wandered, and fell on the fox brothers, who were currently hiding under an off-kilter shelf.  
  
A few minutes later they were flying through the air yelling various things that sounded like a cross between 'augh' and a fox's screech. The little green man they were intended to hit was not happy and started scrambling away, getting caught on his own mess of broken binding and scattered shelves.  
  
"That's it." Sailorvenus closed her eyes tightly. "STOP!" She screamed. Everything went completely silent for about 5 minutes. In that time frame she took that as a energy builder.  
  
'I'll try this one more time.' She thought.  
  
"VENUS" Sailorvenus lifted her arms into the air once again an flung open her hands, fanning them out. "SLEEPING" A white power sprang out from inbetween her hands, shooting at the little monster. "POWDER!" The powder shot at the leprechaun. It screamed in agony and fell to the floor, twitching and moaning.  
  
Saturn restrained the urge to do a victory dance and attacked the creature with her feather again before it finally exploded into green light and dust, leaving behind the faint smell of burnt shamrocks. She dusted herself off and knocked the dust on the tip of her feather off on her boot. Her attention was then turned to the stranger she had just fought beside.  
  
"Well, what quest are YOU on? I'm not up to cleaning all of this up just yet...And a monotonous life can sometimes be boring. So I guess I could travel with you, if you like." Not bothering to revert to normal, Saturn began absentmindedly picking up books in salvageable shape around her and stacking them neatly in the middle of all the chaos.  
  
Venus stared at her dumbstruck. "W-what about YOU'RE quest." She stuttered. "AND my art book." She fainted then, falling over onto the dusty floor, sending dust into the air in a giant cloud.  
  
"....Oh great, more mess." Saturn sighed and reverted to her normal self, then began poking the unconcsious senshi with a random art book.  
  
Venus moaned and rolled over when the art books tapped her. She sat slowly, batting the book away from her. Her head spun quickly as she looked over at Saturn. She held out her hand slowly. "Hi. I'm Bella."  
  
Her hand was hesitantly and briskly shook, and then the librarian raised an eyebrow. "I'm Rabe. So, are you taking me along or not? I've nothing else to do..."  
  
"Sure thing." Venus raised an eyebrow back and stood up. She detransformed and smiled, picking up the art book on the ground. "This is what I needed."  
  
Rabe paused, then smiled. "Wilhelm and Jacob, me boys, we're going on an adventure."  
  
*****  
  
At the change in Richelle's voice, Cécile narrowed her eyes. What was this girl implying, after all of the hospitality she provided? It wasn't as though they'd done anything to hurt her, aside from the little steak fiasco, and even then, the girl wouldn't accept a repayment. Perhaps the inquiry about the King was a bit much, but it didn't seem as though what she had said made their mission obvious. Cécile tried to control a growl from slipping into her incredulous voice, "Excuse me?" She pushed her chair back from the table and stood up, a grim expression replacing the polite smile, "I don't believe we have done any wrong to you as guests. Certainly my uncle's behavior is odd, but you can't blame him when he is as mentally...affected as he is. We have no intention of staying here anyway, since we were well on our way until we found you and your damned steak."  
  
The baker turned to Wolf, who was still in the middle of eating, with a glare that told him to get up before she had to make him do it. "Let's go, Uncle Warren. We're not welcome here." A part of her was altogether unsurprised about rejection. She had felt it all of her life whenever she traveled to other towns in the Second Kingdom, especially in the north. Rifling through her pockets for money, though it was in Second Kingdom currency, she glanced back at Richelle, her voice cold and unfriendly, "Thank you for your food and service." Cécile slapped the coinage on the table and moved for the door.  
  
Richelle stood to the side, watching Cécile as she talked. "I can't let you leave without an explanation. You haven't been forthright with me--which under the circumstances is understandable, but outright lying..." Richelle shook her head. "What did he mean by the tenth kingdom? Only folk I've heard of going over there are the Four and the bad guys. And if you truly didn't mean to go to the castle you would never have gotten lost this way." she gave Wolf a look. "Even if you smelled my steak."  
  
At these words, Cécile froze and stiffly turned to look at Wolf. What had he said when she wasn't here?!? How could he be so...so...STUPID? She tried to contain the horror from flooding into her expression. They were just as good as dead if this girl had any idea of their true identities. Once again, the baker reached for her neck while Richelle continued speaking.  
  
"As guests you are very nice, my parents shouldn't even notice you were here you were so nice and tidy--as...travelers you leave much to be desired for." Her eyes flicked back and forth between the door and the two. She could, obstensibly, make it if she transformed. She wasn't so sure she could take on a wolf, full grown or not, without serious injury, destruction to the house and one of them running off and telling every bad guy in the kingdom where they could find her. *What to do, what to do...*  
  
Following Richelle's eyes, Cécile looked back at the door, and then to Wolf. Were she an actual animal, her fur would be standing on end and bristling at this point. Their hostess was a threat to them, she could just feel it in her gut and smell it in the air. The tingle that she had felt the night before had returned, creating a deep seated worry. Still focusing her gaze on Wolf, she brushed back the hair from her face, revealing a feral, golden eye. Cécile swallowed, then spoke in a calm, yet tense voice, "Run." She made no movements herself, only inclining her head towards the door. He stared back, almost blankly. The urgency rose as she repeated herself, "Wolf, RUN! NOW!"  
  
There was silence. Wolf looked back at her darkly, tilting his head downward as if to look at her on eyelevel. "I will do no such thing. We are wolves, Cécile." There, he had said it. There was no use dancing around it anymore. "We do not run. This isn't just your world that's in danger here... they  
  
want Virginia too. Do you think I'll run from that?" His words were hard and cold; the truth.  
  
His words struck a chord in her. For a moment, Cécile felt strangely relieved and pleased by his words -- she wasn't alone anymore. She didn't need to pretend she was anything other than a wolf at heart. But she didn't have time to gush over warm feelings. Whether or not he was a fully grown man, he hadn't been able to ward off the attack that led him back to the Nine Kingdoms. If this girl, whom Cécile could already sense magical powers in, was just as dangerous, if not moreso, then... "Wolf, you don't know what you're up against... I can handle it, trust me!" Or rather, trust Sailormars, which even she couldn't do. She had only transformed once before in her entire life...but now wasn't a good time to doubt her powers. "Take the horses and get to the palace before it's too late. I'll catch up with you, I promise." This time, it was more of a plea than a command.  
  
*******  
  
"The lights came from upstairs--so those are our best bet. D'you think we should split up or do you reckon there might be another spider monster?" Gio said as her fuku fell off in the form of multicolored string, leaving her red suit behind. She straighted her top hat and looked at Alice squarely. "I'll be fine without the torch, if light is a problem."  
  
"Your crazy if you think I'm going to wander around this place without back up," was Alice's reply as she gingerly stepped over the spider juices. "Besides, it's a well-known fact that enemies get stronger as the hero goes on. If it takes two of us to kill the first, it would be a kamikaze mission to go on alone."  
  
"Well, all right then." Gio said before she began up the right hand staircase. "We'll try this one first and see where it goes. If all else fails, we could just make a racket. That's sure to bring someone down."  
  
"Brilliant plan, as long as we don't die, I don't really care," Alice carefully positioned herself behind Gio as they started up the musty staircase. There were cobwebs here as well, but mostly near the ceiling. She squinted at the steps as they were climbing. "This staircase must have been used a lot at one point in time, it's worn in on one side..."  
  
"Isn't that nice," Gio said distractedly as she fanned away the cobwebs. Squinting in the ever increasing darkness, the stairs continued for several minutes until Alice's legs felt quite numb. Then they came into a narrow hallway, which was equally dark.  
  
Alice pursed her lips disapprovingly, "I wouldn't expect a member of the phylum Coniferophyta to notice details such as that, which might clue us in on possible inhabitants." She peered into the shadowy hallway, wishing she had her purse with her. A flashlight would be so much more reliable than the torch's flickering light.  
  
"Notice that soon as we're out of a life or death situation the smartass switch gets turned back on," Gio muttered as she stormed into the hallway. "HELLO! ANYONE HERE!" She turned around to face Alice and began to walk backwards. "We don't mean you any harm.... we just want directions...!"  
  
"...please don't eat us, please don't fricassee us," Alice mumbled under her breath, instinctively crouching slightly as she walked. "...don't ravish us... killing is not preferred..." She kept quietly whispering this mantra of sorts, looking around her for any signs of movement.  
  
---  
  
The day had hardly begun when a young boy in armor could be seen trudging through the lush forest landscape. In his hand he clutched a strange but ornate dagger, and his face was a mask of confidence. Today he would fight the beast, and today he would win yet again. Such as it always was, so it will always be.  
  
Arriving in a clearing, he saw the target of his quest. A simple cave, on the opposite end of the grassy clearing. Taking a deep breath, the armored boy called, "Foul beast, today you die! Come out here and meet your maker!"  
  
Clutching the dagger tighter, the boy waited. He knew he wouldn't have to wait long.  
  
Slowly, from the depths of the cave, came a large, hulking shadow. As it emerged into the light, the figure was revealed: a large, dangerous-looking dragon, strong in build with ashen gray armored scales and large, powerful wings which flexed as it crawled out of the cave on all fours. Its tail twitched and swayed behind it, and its eyes seemed to almost glow an angry yellow gleam as it bared its sharp teeth and let out a low breath.  
  
"Come to take my head again, boy?" it asked in a deep, gruff voice.  
  
The boy raised his dagger and pointed it at the beast, grinning. "And I shall be victorious! Jabberwocky, I shall slay you once and for all!"  
  
In the Jabberwocky's mind, he knew that no matter what he said, The Boy was right. In a storybook, the end is already written. He couldn't change it, no matter how much he tried. But if there was one thing he learned from his years upon years of repeating this battle, it was that if he had to die, he would at least die with honor. Slowly, the beast rose up on its hind legs, standing near straight before The Boy, lowering his head to stare at him. "Then so be it. Let us begin this dance all over again."  
  
And begin it did. The Boy rushed the Jabberwocky, knife poised, but the Jabberwocky was prepared for this. Flapping its powerful wings, it took to the air above The Boy, and tried to flap down and stomp him with his powerful hind legs.  
  
Under normal circumstances this would have been an effective ploy, as The Boy was too reckless in his charge to be able to efficiently dodge the attack. However, the Jabberwocky realized, that no matter how hard he fought something would happen to save The Boy. That damned Boy. And he was right. He wasn't sure which moved, him or The Boy, but his perfectly aimed kick wound up short of The Boy's position. The Boy took this chance and took another lunge at the Jabberwocky, trying to climb up its back to its neck.  
  
The Jabberwocky was quick to respond to this attempt. He reached behind him and grabbed The Boy, pulling him off and flinging him into a nearby tree. "Let's see if you can stop this, Boy," the beast grumbled, as it reared back its powerful head and let loose a blast of flame breath at the fallen Boy.  
  
For a moment, there was a glimmer of hope. Perhaps he had finally escaped this cycle. But that hope was quickly dashed as the Boy emerged from the flames. Completely unharmed. It was as if he were a god, or a titan, or a mere immortal. The Jabberwocky scowled, and The Boy laughed. "You can't beat me, foul creature! You should know that by now!"  
  
"Do not count yourself the victor just yet, child," the Jabberwocky warned. "Fate may be on my side yet."  
  
"Fate is never on the side of evil scum like you!" the Boy declared, raising his dagger. "Fate shines on those with the light of good in their hearts, like me!"  
  
For a moment, the Jabberwocky thought he would be sick. But he knew the Boy was partly right. Fate would not smile on him. It never would.  
  
But then, something happened. Something that surprised both combatants. In the middle of the clearing, a glowing white light started as a flicker, and then grew brighter and brighter. "What is that?!" The Boy shouted, shielding his eyes from the glare.  
  
The Jabberwocky just stared at the light. "Salvation." He dropped to all fours and raced for the light...  
  
---  
  
The senshi pair had found themselves in a musty old library, wall to wall in leather-bound books. The sounds of their footsteps was muffled by frayed and warped carpets. Alice felt her her fingers itching and twitching at the mere scent of them. She raised the torch in a semicircle, trying to comprehend the height of the shelves.  
  
"Let's stop here for just a moment, I see something useful..." On small desks, or tables, she wasn't sure which, there were oil lamps. Alice stopped to light one.  
  
"How do you know they have any oil left?" she heard Gio ask, a slight edge in her voice.  
  
The wick caught. "Oil doesn't evaporate." Alice smiled, the light of the lamp only revealing her mouth and face, her brilliant blues eyes glimmering every once in a while. The lamp smoked, she knew it would, but it couldn't be helped since the torch was already starting to burn out. She offered the lamp to Gio, who waved it away. Shrugging, she found some stone floor and mashed the torch end into the granite, snuffing it out. The lamp provided much clearer and more reliable light.  
  
As she stood up, gold leaf on a binding caught her eye and stopping her mid- motion. It was impossible. Lewis Carroll was born long after the glories of the brothers Grimm. Bound in red fabric with gold leaf reading "Through the Looking-Glass" in clean, angular script. The book sat so innocently on the shelf, between the Aberdeen Bestiary and the Aeneid. But it was there, nonetheless, mocking her, teasing her....  
  
Tempting her.  
  
She straightened up, not even feeling the quiver in her left pocket, and pulled it off the shelf with her middle finger. She examined it for another brief, yet agonizing second, and opened the book.  
  
Blinding blue light beamed through the writing a moment before covering the entire page, a great blast of hot air accompanying it. Alice had felt gale force winds that were tamer. The winds knocked her back into the bookshelf, which in turn dumped some books on her. The book remained still, despite the winds and through squinted eyes, Alice saw.  
  
From the flash of light started to emerge a large, inhuman form that roared in triumph. As it emerged farther, though, from out of the light came what looked like chains. A large metal shackle snapped itself on to the beast's neck, and the light flashed brighter.  
  
When it died down, a young dark skinned man lay on the floor, bare except for some shorts, his body wrapped in shiny chains and shackles on his arms, legs, and neck. Perhaps the strangest thing about him was the fact that he had a long, ash gray tail. He lay prone on the ground while from the glowing light came another form.  
  
The Boy had recklessly charged yet again, and this time paid the price as he ran headfirst into the bookcase next to Alice.  
  
At this point, Gio had had enough of the blowing winds and the people hitting the bookcases. She fought against the winds as she trudged towards the book, forcing the thick cover closed. As soon as the book shut, the lights ended and the winds stopped. She surveyed the situation, wondering just what had happened.  
  
The chained boy on the ground slowly forced himself to his feet when he regained consciousness. "Oh my head..." He placed his hand to his forehead... when he realized that his hand had changed. Quickly feeling over the rest of his body, he looked down at himself. "What happened to me?!" he shouted in surprise and anger.  
  
From the bookcase, The Boy pushed himself to his feet, looking around before catching sight of the transformed boy. Wasting no time, he pointed the dagger and called, "Taking human form won't save you! I shall slay you, foul beast, no matter what form you take!" In typical fashion, the Boy tried to rush the Jabberwocky again. It had always worked before, he knew it would work again.  
  
But this time, for some reason, it didn't. The Jabberwocky jumped, despite the chains, and kicked The Boy in the back as he passed. However, it was then that he realized that his legs were connected to a ball and chain. As a result, he wound up being pulled back to the ground quickly. "Damn," he muttered. He needed to figure out what was going on without that damn child after him. "I'll see you later, boy," the Jabberwocky shouted, as from his back a pair of ash gray wings sprouted, and he dashed for the window of the dimly lit library, jumping out of it and gliding down the wall of the castle towards one of the lower floors.  
  
The Boy regained his bearings in time to see the Jabberwocky jump out the window. He rushed to the portal in the wall, but was too late to see where he had gone. "He's gone!" the boy pouted, leaning against the windowsill.  
  
A wind-blown and somewhat confused Gio stood next to the closed book, her eyes darting side to side. "What...the hell...just happened here...?"  
  
Standing up amidst injured books, Alice gathered her wits faster than she could finger comb and rebraid her hair. "It appears that we have two..." she looked the Boy over and in lieu of her original choice of words, decided on, "Creatures of writing. One of whom escaped. What is your name?" She indicated to the boy, finishing her braid and pulling her hood up once more.  
  
The boy turned from the window to face the speaker. Being the young teenager he was, he turned to a boastful mass of Jell-o as soon as he was sure she was addressing her. "I am Gregor, the greatest warrior in all the land!" he announced, sheathing his dagger and bowing gracefully. At least he thought it was graceful. He just wound up looking like a fool. "And who might you be, fair maiden?"  
  
Alice was far from impressed and half-expected his voice to crack, but she decided to play along since it took longer to transform and kick his ass than it took him to draw his sword. She curtsied, using her raincoat like a dress. "O mighty warrior, I am naught but a peasant maid and do not deserve the respect and formalities," she smiled sweetly, any trace of her less pleasant bits completely absent. "But if you do so wish for my name, some people call me 'Alice.' And this is my escort and guardian, Gio." Alice motioned to Gio with her hand.  
  
"Didn't look so dangerous to me," Gio said as she looked out the way the ...thing had left. "Just had a pair of wings. Wearing chains, even." She rested her hand on her hip, the other tipping her hat to one side.  
  
"I assure you," The Boy said, "that that THING is a fearsome creature who lives for naught but death and destruction!" Of course, he didn't know that for sure. He only knew stories told by people from his village about what the Jabberwocky had done, but he wasn't about to tell them that. "The Jabberwocky must be slain!"  
  
"How simply awful," gaped Alice, delicately covering her mouth with a pale hand. "How can you possibly pit yourself against such a creature without fear of your own destruction? I would be utterly terrified!"  
  
At this time Gio found it appropriate to begin to cough violently in her little corner, smirking between her violent fits. A giggle escaped here or there, too, but it wasn't too obvious. What do you know, Alice could be funny sometimes...  
  
"Worry not for me, fair maiden!" The Boy stated with bolstered courage. "For I have the power of good on my side! And good shall always triumph over evil!"  
  
"Oh my! Oh my, oh my, oh my!" cried Alice in false delight, "You are so selfless, brave warrior! Perhaps I could ask you the tiniest of favors? I would be utterly in your debt if you could help us, o fierce Gregor?" Alice had reduced herself to a simpering young girl, much to her own pleasure. Idiots are much easier to deal with when you act like an idiot with them.  
  
"But of course, fair maiden!" The Boy responded, smiling stupidly. "What is it you wish of me?" At that moment he probably would have jumped out the window behind him if she asked him to and still smiled about it.  
  
"We're in a terrible predicament, you see.... We are oh so very lost and when we went into this castle in hope of finding someone who could tell us directions, we've encountered these awful beasts. We just barely escaped from the last one. And I was wondering if you could possibly help us out of the castle and back on the road? You're so brave, I'm sure it would be no problem for you."  
  
"And what about that beast thing? I'd be glad to help you," Gio said after a few minutes of silence. She looked so much bigger and stronger than the Boy was. She placed her hand over the spot where her marionette was hidden. "I'm sure together we could get it, eh? Let Alice rest a while, and we'll go hunt it out."  
  
"I agree," The Boy stated. Then he began, "Fair maiden Alice, your manservant and I shall hunt down the beast and slay it while you rest yourself! Fear not, we shall be victorious!", as if the thought was his own idea. With that, he took Alice's hand and kissed it, turning around and heading out of the room, expecting Gio to follow close behind.  
  
Alice, quite happy not to participate in the adventures, waved off the two heroes with a kleenex and settled down with the Aberdeen Bestiary.  
  
*******  
  
The dark hoods were pulled over their faces, though through the darkness bled green and wine colored eyes. The eyes glowed like the riverstones that laid at the bottom of the streams they carressed with their gloved fingertips. The forest they traveled through sprouted narrow, gnarled trees and a mist that ate the hems of their cloaks. Leaves rustled and took flight as they passed.  
  
The two figures held hands, through their sleeveless cloaks their hands were seen swinging back and forth in unison. One that wore a green suede cloak held a lantern in her other hand, as she led the other cloaked one the darkness fled from them, scattering shadows across the wood.  
  
"When owls call the breathless moon  
  
In the blue veil of the night  
  
The shadows of the trees appear  
  
Amidst the lantern light.."  
  
Their voices echoed throughout the forest. Animals stopped in their tracks to listen to them, for their song was not an unfamilair one, their glinting eyes caught by the light of the lantern. They danced on air as they passed, their feet never gracing the ground with its fragile touch. The sound of their song was an eerie one, a strange reminder of the things one had forgotten long ago, when they rocked in the cradle. Oh, what a weird sight they must have been, so strange and yet wonderous to see two girls dancing through the air, their voices like angels.  
  
Suddenly the greek cloaked one stopped and pressed her feet into the soft, leaf-covered earth just before the thick trunks of a tree began. She sprang upwards, the girl in the soft blue coak following behind limply. As they broke through the canopy of leaves, a burst of color surrounded them and floated to the ground. They looked at the pale sky, clouds undistinguishable. The latter girl reached her hand up to perhaps just touch the surface of it, it was so close--before they took a great tumble and were sent half-giggling, half-singing through the branches of a large tree to the ground again.  
  
"We've been rambling all the night  
  
And some time of this day  
  
Now returning back again  
  
...We bring a garland gay."  
  
As they nearly had impact with the ground, a flock of common birds took flight around them, catching their dresses as they flew. The bluecloakedgirl laughed and held the numerous layers of her dress down as they darted between a old dead tree and a riverbed, and soon the birds had all but diminished.  
  
They played games like this, in midair. Acrobatics and just general mischief, as if taunting gravity to take them and send them crashing to the Earth. It was a vain fight for gravity though--try as it might, it would never catch the green cloaked girl and any of those she assisted. They spun and flipped, and bounced off the side of rocks to catapult through the air laughing like children.  
  
"And so they linked their hands and danced  
  
Round in circles and in rows  
  
And so the journey of the night descends  
  
When all the shades are gone."  
  
But these childish games didn't last. The green cloaked girl slowed to a stop. Her hands trembled, even tucked inside the other girl's hand, who now looked on in a puzzled expression. Gloved fingers tucked themselves in her hood as the green cloaked girl slipped the cloth down to her shoulders, revealing soft brown hair. Her ornate eyes darkened and her lip trembled-- though she had no idea why.  
  
In her irises, though, you could see shadows, and the sound of hoof beats roared...  
  
The presence of such strangers in the forest had disturbed something deep within the trees. It had believed that the vicinity would have been empty, silent and private, but the sound of delicate laughter quickly shattered this image. The figure and source of the hoof beats felt nothing but anger and a sense of threatening by voices that were so uncommon. It stormed forward as an unnaturally large black shadow with a sallow golden light hanging to its side, most certainly having focused on the girls just ahead like a hunting animal singled out a target.  
  
Effortlessly it wove through trees that were second nature to it at a full gallop, and the closer it came the more clear it's identity was. The thick shadow cleared into a defined profile of human and animal. On the back of a large coal black horse was what appeared to be a man, or what was left of him. He brandished in one hand a sword, while the other proudly held the golden light--a pumpkin. However, even with all of these items, the figure was missing something verykey. He did not duck or dodge and branches that were bold enough to extend at the level of his head, for there was no need; the horseman had no head to be in danger of scratches. Despite this, he rode forward with what might have been mistaken for perfect vision, locked in on the intruders.  
  
Dido stood frozen for a moment and looked at the headless spectre. Her wine eyes showed little emotion, until her lips open and she began to speak. "He doesn't look too happy with us... who is he? And where did his head go...?"  
  
But this wasn't a time for answers. Quickly, the brown haired girl grabbed the other's hand and jumped to the ground. With the impact they sprung upwards, just as the horseman came at them, and narrowly they missed the swinging blade. Eulalia's breath was caught as she desperately looked for an exit--a mud puddle, a stream, anything reflective they could pass through--but there was nothing there to give her comfort. She could hide..but Dido couldn't, and they certainly couldn't out run the ghost... He came like a wildfire, so stealthily until he had been right there. Why hadn't she seen him? A hopeless look rested on her face as she glanced at Dido, who was still pondering why the man had no head and why they were in the middle of the big forest.  
  
"Lala, what are we going to do...?" Dido said after a few minutes of observation, though it did her little good.  
  
Eulalia opened her mouth to speak, and they darted past another blow that would've been fatal. The cold black fingertips of a dead tree scraped Eulalia's skin and she trembled. Grasping Dido by the shoulders and looking at her deeply, Eulalia bit her lip. "Dido... I .... I want you to run from here."  
  
"Lala! You can't leave me! He'll...he'll chase me! The man with no head! Why is he chasing us?"  
  
"He won't chase you if I'm distracting him, I think!" Eulalia said with a breathless voice as she untangled herself.  
  
"But I'll get lost!"  
  
"Just keep running. Don't stop. Call for Archos, she'll be able to help you."  
  
"Lala..." Dido's wine eyes were clouded with tears as she slipped her hood off, revealing her teal hair in the tints of blue that painted the forest. But then her tears went away. Eulalia wasn't sure if Dido just accepted her command or merely forgot why she was scared, but she turned to go. As soon as she let go of Eulalia's hands, she dropped to the ground on all fours. There was a mad scramble as she rushed to get to her feet and she began to run.  
  
At the same time, Eulalia raised her glove and closed her eyes, sending her transformation into action. She felt herself rise not of her own accord, the hems of her skirts lazily waving in the wind, though just a few minutes ago there hadn't been any. Slowly, the rose that was wrapped around her glove began to glow. Eulalia felt herself go numb, and Sailorviator immediately took over.  
  
She landed and the holy light died, as she crouched a shard of glass materialized in her waiting hand. Squinting, Viator saw the horse's flank as it attempted to chase the fleeing Dido. Scowling, Viator shouted.  
  
"IF YOU DON'T MIND, I'M OVER HERE!"  
  
Already frustrated by being unable to strike down his opponents, the horseman slowed and turned sharply towards the girl who had yelled at him. Even without a face he seethed rage and a willingness to engage in a real battle, rather than the merry-go-round mockery of it with useless dodges and swings. His now detained steed pawed the ground impatiently, obviously just as willing. It took two labored steps towards Viator, it's rider forcing it not to take off after the fleeing woman again.  
  
The headless horseman rose his sword in threat again, advancing on the one stranger that was still present, using the perfectly balanced pumpkin as a light as if to look at her face. If he could deal with this one quickly, the rider felt assured the one who ran would be within reach as well. With this, he urged the beast of burden forward, blade swinging madly.  
  
His blade met the glass one that Viator swung at the same time, her eyes glinting with a fiery anger that Eulalia's eyes did not know. She held her place for an amazing length of time, just staring blankly at the man with no face. Anything at all to make sure Dido got further away, to make sure that they could complete their mission. She snapped to reality and then with a cry of anger she pushed the blade forward. It shattered, leaving traces of glass over the leaf-covered ground. She tightened her grip over what was left of the blade, before bounding off the ground, flipping over herself several times.  
  
The horseman turned the stump of his neck to follow the pattern of flight expressed by the girl. His horse whinnied and shifted it's position at the noise and movement, and the rider didn't bother to calm the animal. Instead, he inspected the new nicks on his blade from the glass weapon. As soon as she landed, he made his mount rush forward for another attack, feeling more hastened than ever to be rid of the threat.  
  
As she landed, she oriented her gravity once more. She was hovering sideways, her head turned back to look at the approaching horseman upside down. With a swift push, she was off again, half-running, half-flying through the woods, darting between trees she thought the horse could not make headway through. This was good in theory, but the thinner, weaker trees were sliced in half by the horseman's blade. Viator looked back with a horrified expression as he drew nearer and nearer. Nothing seemed like it could stop him; she was dealing with a spectre, a being of neither realm.  
  
The chase continued for what seemed like hours for the speculum soldier. Everywhere she turned, she leapt from the closeness of the blade, leaving pieces of her uniform the blade caught behind, fluttering to the ground before trampled by thunderous horse hooves. Mist that had only been a blanket on the ground before now grew waist-deep as they neared a stream; at last, a stream! Viator had found her exit.  
  
Looking back, her eyes caught the visage of the headless horseman once more. Her heart stopped--for the first time, Eulalia managed to catch up with Viator's win-or-flee spirit--and fear took her breath away. Somewhere deep within her, she realized that once upon a time, that spectre had been good. He had been a lonely soldier, just like she, and had died. A tear slipped from her eyes as she crawled to the water's surface. The sword swung down on her just as she was disappearing.  
  
Had she not moved, the blade would've killed her. But she had slipped away, and since then only her back had been sliced, not severed. The sound of the water echoed and the heavy pant of the horse, who nearly reared and struck the pond bottom with its hooves. There was no girl to strike. Silently, the horseman portrayed his frustrated state of mind, violently waving his glowing pumpkin in protest.  
  
He did not notice the flicker of light behind him. Green eyes blurred with tears as the speculum soldier reappeared behind him. Eulalia did not like hurting things, truth be told. It was a necessary evil. But the spectre needed rest--everyone needed rest. There was only one way. If the ghost had a head, the broken remain of the glass lance Viator swung would've taken it off, clean at the neck. But since someone had apparently beat her to it, the glass flew through the air and instead hit his pumpkin. To anyone else, this would have appeared to be a fatal move. But this move would be the one to save Viator, and bring her just a bit closer to her goal.  
  
The pumpkin fell from his hands, the brimstone's light disappearing into the stream as it rolled. Instantly, a change began to take place. Her eyes were there, and focused, but yet she couldn't see. Numbly, she reached over her shoulder where a stinging pain had began to eat away at her conscious. Retrieving her hand, she noticed that now both gloves were stained with her own blood. Her eyes unfocused from there. For the first time in her life, Sailorviator, the senshi of travel and teleportation, fell.  
  
The fall lasted forever, as tears streamed from her eyes. They hung in the air like rain drops. For a moment, her heart beat, her breath succumbed to the sounds of the forest. The owls hooted. The crickets chirped. In the spaces the canopy of leaves left behind, tiny stars dotted the sky.  
  
'What a beautiful night,' Viator thought as a small smile claimed her lips. Her uniform faded away, forming pieces of glass that sunk into the forest's grounds, leaving bloody gloves and a dust rose gown behind. Her eyes lost their glow as an uneasy sleep took her. In the meantime, another pair of green eyes were watching her in horror. Then, all Eulalia could see was light.  
  
"I'm..sorry..... sorry..." Eulalia whispered through dry lips, before even the pleasures of speech were lost to her. And there she laid, a broken winged bird who couldn't fly, crumpled in the ground with blood-stained hands and dirt beneath her fingernails. She slept.  
  
"Oh my lord..." a voice said softly, though it fell on seemingly deaf ears. A long, thin shadow lingered over Eulalia's body. "What have I done...?"  
  
*******  
  
On their way out, Gio walked with her arms behind her head as she looked up at the flying buttresses that adorned the sides of the hallway. "So, how vicious and terrible is this supposive beast?" She said, unamused. "It certainly didn't seem to stay and fight." Her gaze was particularly piercing.  
  
"Quite vicious, I must say," Gregor responded, hand on the dagger at his waist anxiously. "He has destroyed villages and killed innocent people with no thought about his actions! As to why he ran, he must have been afraid of my great strength and knew he stood no chance for survival..." What he forgot to mention was that he hadn't actually SEEN the Jabberwocky kill or destroy anything. He only heard rumors and stories told to him by his elders.  
  
"Ah huh," Gio said with enough enthusiasm to seem honest, but not quite enough to seem enthused. Quite frankly, she wasn't sure if this boy could box his own shadow, much less slay a monster of some sort. She cocked her head to the side, her footsteps halting. "Eh... d'you hear that?"  
  
"Hear what?" Gregor asked, blinking and clueless.  
  
Normally, Gio would've sighed in exasperation. However, since she had picked up a trace, her curiosity was sparked. The distant scuttle was heard in the background. "I think it might be..."  
  
Wham. There went a stone wall, revealing eight hairy black legs.  
  
"Another spider. Shit!"  
  
Gregor simply laughed arrogantly. "Worry not, young man! I shall slay this beast as a warm up to my confrontation with the beast!" Grinning, he pulled the dagger from the hilt on his hip, and moved to attack the spider.  
  
He sliced downwards toward the spider, which scuttled back far enough to avoid the blade, before head butting Gregor into a nearby wall. Gregor oomph-ed as he hit, dropping the blade. As he tried to recover, the spider reeled back a bit and spat out a glob of green liquid. Gregor just barely evaded the shot, turning to see what had happened. Where the liquid landed, the very brick began to melt away. Gregor's eyes widened and he made a sound akin to a whimper, as he grabbed his knife and tried to get as far away from the spider as he could.  
  
"Blast..." Gio cursed as tumbled backwards, pulling the marionette from her jacket. There was no time to transform now--now that there was a toothpick, er, child to protect. The little backtrack she had done was made up for as she flew at the spider, the marionette's blades swinging as she attacked one of the giant legs, sending pieces of its meat everywhere. This resulted in a high-pitched scream from the spider as it reared that half-severed leg, with Gio still attached. Gio screamed, though it wasn't particularly in fright. "HELLO!? Someone?! Anyone? Stop this carriage ride, dammit!"  
  
As if to answer her question, as quick as a flash, the half-severed leg was completely severed. Shortly after, four more legs fell away from the spider's body. The creature screamed in pain again, as it fell. "You should know better than to pick on those weaker than you," a voice said from the darkness.  
  
"Eh? Who's that?" Gio called as she thumped to the ground. Either Gregor had suddenly went through puberty, or there was someone else. "Thanks, by the way!" She removed her marionette from the stone floor and looked around.  
  
"No problem," the voice replied. The spider managed to get on its remaining feet, and appeared to be readying another corrosive shot. "Don't worry about this thing, I'll take care of it." Without another word, the spider lumbered towards the shadows where the waiting attacker stood. All Gio could hear was the sounds of a fight, as someone lay swift attacks to the spider, and the squishing sounds which could only be attributed to the spider being ripped to pieces. Then, it was all over, as the figure stepped into view of Gio.  
  
It was the Jabberwocky. Or at least, the human it had become.  
  
*************  
  
Broken Fairy Tales: Senshi of the Ten Kingdoms.  
  
The chapters of this story are taken directly from a play-by-email by the same name. Each of the writers, including myself, have given consent to having their work published under this name, with due credit.  
  
'Something Wicked This Way Comes', episode five of Broken Fairy Tales, was written by Mags, Molly, Koi, Alex, Ryu, Gena, Sushi, and Jeff. Love you guys! 3  
  
The song 'Mummer's Dance', sung by Dido and Eulalia in this chapter was originally performed by Loreena McKennit.  
  
This is a crossover between 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon', and the NBC/Hallmark miniseries 'The Tenth Kingdom', that aired in 1998/1999. 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon' and 'The Tenth Kingdom' do not belong to the people who wrote Broken Fairy tales and we do not claim rights to any of the aforementioned television shows. We do, however, claim rights to our original characters, the Senshi of the Ten Kingdoms. Icabod Crane, the Headless Horseman and the Jabberwocky are properties of Washington Irving and Lewis Carol respectively--we have only borrowed them. They are copyrighted to their creators.  
  
Are you a fan of sailormoon, the tenth kingdom, or just fairy tales? If you're a good writer and would like to contribute, visit our site at www32.brinkster.com/cwmrpg/broken  
  
We're currently looking for someone to play Sailor Commoneo and we're always looking for Knights, so if you're interested please check it out. ^_^ 


	6. Allies

Chapter Six: Allies  
  
The red haired girl took a few steps back again, her hat tipping and falling to the side. Her eyes opened in bewilderment. "You're the..." She paused, because he wasn't really a 'thing.' He was a person, just like she use to be, just like she still pretended to be. Her eyes locked his, though her glassy, doll eyes couldn't match the untamed soul of the Jabberwocky. "Person. The person. I'm supposed to kill you..." Her fingertips tightened around the handle of the marionette.  
  
The Jabberwocky sighed and palmed his forehead. "If you must. I won't fight you, you're a good soul. Misguided by that wretched child, but good." He stepped backwards a bit. "Just be careful around here, I already found a few more of those spiders. Had to finish them off, and let me tell you they were stronger than this one was."  
  
As Gio spoke with the Jabberwocky, Gregor slowly got himself back to his feet and recovered from the shock of the spider attack. Spotting the Jabberwocky, he poised his knife. His arrogance was back in full force, and he called out. "You have made a folly, foul beast, and shown yourself! Now you shall die by my blade!"  
  
Gregor was frozen for a moment. "He... He... You saw what he did to that spider! He's a threat to all the good people of this world!" he announced, not wanting to lose his ally by telling her he didn't know.  
  
"Yes, Gregor. Spider bad. Spider smashed Gregor a bit too hard on his soft little fleshy skull." Gio said in a mocking manner. To emphasize, she reached out and knocked on her own skull, which due to being made of wood, made an eerie hollow noise. "Or maybe little Gregor was already messed up to begin with."  
  
Gregor sputtered. "Imagine what he could do to you if he felt like it!"  
  
The Jabberwocky just glared at Gregor. "I killed that spider because it tried to hurt both this young lady here and you, though I would have been glad to let it eat you. It was evil."  
  
Gregor had to blink for a moment. "Lady?" The Jabberwocky just sighed at the young man's ignorance.  
  
Normally, Gio liked kids. They were okay, even funny and they usually got along well enough. Of course, there will always be one exception. "Yeah, in case you haven't noticed..." She flipped off her hat once again, revealing the unruly red locks of her hair. "I'm female." She took off one of her gloves, revealing a ball-jointed hand that was made of polished wood. She smacked the boy with the glove on either side of his face--she was tempted to do more, perhaps throw him out of the tower windows, but he was only a child--and then smiled. "Nor am I human. I think it's best you leave, Gregor."  
  
Gregor got huffy. "I apologize profusely, ma'am, but I have no choice but to slay this beast! You had best not endanger yourself and allow me to complete my work!" he announced, raising his blade.  
  
The Jabberwocky sighed. "I hate to beat up on the stupid..."  
  
"This battle will be won just like all the others! I shall slay you and take back your head as proof of your death!"  
  
"You don't get it, do you? Your advantage is gone now that we're out of the book," the Jabberwocky informed him. "If we fight, I will win."  
  
"With or without my assistance," Gio added, smiling at the Jabberwocky.  
  
The Jabberwocky took a look at Gio, before returning his attention to Gregor. "What do you say?"  
  
Gregor was getting upset and started to cry a bit. "Just shut up and die already!" With that, he ran for the Jabberwocky, his blade poised. The fight lasted less than the battle with the spider. In a mere three seconds, Gregor's knife was knocked from his hand, and he was sprawled forward on the stone floor, the Jabberwocky's foot on his back to hold him down. "I warned you," he said simply.  
  
Gio waited for a few minutes, biting her lower lip, before tucking her hat back on as she approached the two. "Let him go. Take him back to the book and let him go."  
  
The Jabberwocky looked towards Gio, his foot still pinning the boy to the floor. "I'm not going to kill him. He doesn't deserve it. He's just an ignorant child trying to prove to his father that he's all grown up by slaying the "terrible beast" that rumors say destroyed an entire village."  
  
"We've all been there," Gio said softly. "That's why I think you should take him back to the book. Let him prove the end of his boyhood otherwise. Perhaps, next time, Gregor, the best bet would be understanding, since your lack of it has gotten you in trouble this time. But...sir," She paused, and looked to the Jabberwocky, because there was a lack to call him otherwise, "If you don't take him back to the book, what else is there to do of him?"  
  
"We could drop him somewhere in this world and let him fend for himself. But while I do hate him, I wouldn't feel right doing that to his father," the Jabberwocky explained. "We can take him back to the book. But... I don't want to go with him."  
  
"Of course you don't. No one wants to spend their life like that," Gio replied quietly. "We'll take him back. Let him write his own ending."  
  
"Thank you," he said, as he removed his foot long enough to pick Gregor up by the back of his shirt. Gregor, it seems, wasn't content to let him do that, and tried to slash at him with his dagger. The Jabberwocky quickly grabbed the boy's arm with his free hand and twisted his wrist. Gregor yelped in pain and dropped the dagger, pouting. The Jabberwocky looked down at the dagger and hesitated for a moment, before slowly picking it up. He quickly slipped it into his belt, without taking another look at it, and glared at Gregor. "I'm keeping this so you can never use it against another innocent life again."  
  
In the meanwhile, Gio was heading back to the library, kicking away rubble with her shoes. "I certainly hope Alice is doing something worth while. We've been gone so long and we still haven't found Sailorneptune.." She mumbled to herself as she opened the door to the library.  
  
And indeed, Alice had been doing something worthwhile. At least she thought so. During their absence she had spent time pilfering the moldy shelves, seeking information on any legendary soldiers. Not that she was completely ignorant. It seemed that her transformation into Sailorpluto breached a memory block, and each moment she spent idle was filled with a memory. Albeit those memories were not hers. By the now she knew the complete tale of the Four Who Saved the Nine Kingdoms, the fairy tales and location of each Kingdom and a few lines worth on each sailor senshi. Not to mention she had aced her mythology and astronomy classes.  
  
As for actual by-the-hand research, she had found very little besides some maps of trade routes through the kingdoms. This library was ancient by any means, and as far as she could tell, hadn't been updated since Queen Snow White's reign.  
  
Anyways, at the moment Gio found her, Alice was pilfering a file on Jack and the Beanstalk.  
  
"The 'evil beast' has been defeated." Gio said after a few minutes of sitting in the silence, waiting for Alice to notice her. She cleared her throat. "Er.. well, sort of."  
  
From behind Gio, the Jabberwocky entered the room, dropping Gregor to the floor of the library. "I believe this whining little pus bag is your friend."  
  
Gregor was whining and complaining the whole time. "It's not supposed to end like this! Lady Alice, your manservant has betrayed us and sided with the beast! You are in danger!"  
  
The Jabberwocky just shook his head. "Learn to keep your fool mouth shut, kid."  
  
"Manservant?" Alice sniggered in a most unpleasant way. "Gio is a companion in a shared mission. As for this beast," she eyed Jabberwocky, "the only threat he poses is to Fundamentalist Christians. Now get up."  
  
The Jabberwocky raised his eyebrow. "Thanks, I think." Gregor pushed himself to his feet, looking rather shaken up and upset. "You don't believe me? He's a menace! He has to be destroyed!"  
  
"Can I put him back in the book now?" the Jabberwocky asked.  
  
Gio held out the book in question, in a flourished bow. "By all means, be my guest." She flashed a last, mischieveous grin at Gregor. "Have a nice trip, sonny."  
  
With a smirk, the Jabberwocky picked up Gregor again. "Time to say goodbye to you for good, kid. I'd say it's been fun, but..." Suddenly, he stopped talking. He was quiet for a moment as he looked around the room. Quickly, he looked back at Gio and Alice. "Get away from the walls, NOW!" As soon as he finished saying this, the brick started to crumble near and behind one of the bookcases. "We've got company!" he shouted, as a large, hairy arachnid leg started to poke through one of the new holes.  
  
Gio knew better than to take them on in civilian form this time. Throwing her marionette out of her jacket pocket, she called her transformation phrase and felt herself rise not out of her own accord. When her transformation stopped, Sailoruranus stood in the place where Gio Gepetto had moments before.  
  
"The balance of our world is delicate, like the strings of a marionette!" The figure said as the last of her fuku appeared, flits of energy floating to the ground as gravity took hold of her again. "I won't let you hurt my friends! I am Sailoruranus!"  
  
Alice took her cue and transformed into Sailorpluto, frilly bloomers and all. "The card spread has predicted-oh shit!" A very large, rude and furry leg tried to stomp Pluto mid-speech. Leaping out of the way, she pulled the Queen card from her apron pocket.  
  
"Royal Flush!" Pluto flung the card at the spider, wishing she had something more effective than guillotine cards. The spread severed the offending leg and returned to Pluto in a graceful boomerang curve.  
  
As all this happened, the Jabberwocky and Gregor watched, stunned and surprised. "What the hell is going on here?!" Gregor shouted, looking as if he was about to soil himself.  
  
The Jabberwocky, however, turned to Gregor, said "Stay here or die," and got up. The spiders had finally broken through the wall, and started to emerge in the room. He grabbed one of the bookcases, and with a heave, flung it and its contents onto the lead spider, crushing it under its weight. That didn't help much, as from behind it even more started to take its place.  
  
Sailoruranus ran forward with her marionette swinging in front of her. "Don't these things ever give up?!" Leaping into the air, she brought the marionette above her head before bringing it down onto a spider's midsection and sent it crashing to the ground as the marionette impaled it. It began to go through convulsions, once again sending Uranus on a ride not unlike a bucking bronco.  
  
Pluto jackknifed over a smaller spider, razing it with her cards. "I think it's time for a hasty retreat!" she shouted, "There's too many!"  
  
The Jabberwocky quickly went for more bookcases. "You two push them back, I'll barricade the entrance! That should buy us some time to get out of here!" With that, he flung another bookcase on top of the first one, causing some spiders to scramble a few feet back.  
  
"If you say so!" replied Pluto, attempting to drive back the spiders.  
  
Sailoruranus frowned at the situation. Retreat? What was the sense in that-- if they didn't destroy them now, it'd be the spiders destroying them later. At that moment, though, the spider that had been giving the red haired puppet soldier the ride of her life died, and another, much more healthy and menacing spider continued the onslaught on the two senshi and newcomer. Uranus sighed, before swinging her marionette to the side.  
  
"Here goes nothing!" She acknowledged his request before diving back into the spiders again, almost disappearing in the sea of black movement. However, this time there was some progress--it was much easier to push them back, rather than kill them all together. Bits of spider legs flew by as Sailoruranus hacked into them feverishly, shouting at them to move.  
  
"Hmm..." hummed Pluto, throwing single cards in a line across the spiders, making her own electric fence. At the same time, she moved back. It seemed to work, at least until a spider got behind her and decided to avenge all the spiders she had squashes with a newspaper. The black, hairy leg slammed down on her back, knocking the air out of her in a single explative.  
  
The Jabberwocky was quick to come to Pluto's aid, grabbing the offending arachnid leg, and with a mighty heave and a roar, he flung the beast into the rest of the spiders at the entryway, knocking them back. Grabbing a nearby bookcase, he then proceeded to topple it into the path of the spiders, further hindering their process.  
  
In the meantime, Gregor sat huddled in a nearby corner of the room, clutching the book to his chest as he both hoped that the heroes could succeed in stopping the spiders, and that he would not wet himself in fear and further embarrass himself.  
  
Pluto heaved herself more or less upright, coughing and trying to suck air into her lungs. Ohhh, she was going to feel that in the morning. "I'm going now!" she shouted to the others, hobbling towards the windows. Tears stung at her eyes, one arm gripping her pained torso, the other throwing her cards one more time before she escaped. She looked down at the ground, which suddenly seemed very far away. Pluto looked back at her fighting comrads, and gulped. She guessed the pains in her ribcage were probably cracked ribs, and fighting would only aggravate the issue.  
  
"JUMP, YA WENCH!" shouted the card, returning to Pluto's free hand.  
  
"EEP!" Pluto did jump, out of sheer shock, plummeting out of the window. Her scream soon followed.  
  
But rather than becoming a pettifore-clad pancake, Pluto's skirt ballooned in an umbrella-like way, slowing her fall to a gentle waft.  
  
"One down, two more of us to go," Uranus said, disturbingly cheerful. She smiled defiantely as she kicked a spider carcass away from her, before looking around. There were just too many--even if she and the stranger managed to kill another dozen, they would still be on tonight's menu. With that realization and the Jabberwocky's words, Uranus' loud sigh gave her sign of resignation. Her smile faded.  
  
The Jabberwocky was in a close distance of her. That would make her next move easier. She waited until he was pulled away from the spiders for air, before running towards him in a mad paced-circle. The bottom arm of the marionette lengthend to the height of Sailoruranus, and when she had completed the circle, she jumped into the air. The marionette's arm impaled the ground not four inches from the Jabberwocky.  
  
"PUPPET CIRCLE!" Sailoruranus cried as she hung in midair. The ground rumbled, before a neat circle cut its way into the stone floor. For a moment, everything paused, before the ground surrounding Uranus and her alley crumbled, sending them to the next floor. "Going down!"  
  
"What are you doing?!" The Jabberwocky shouted, as they both fell to the ground below. When he landed, the Jabberwocky quickly sprouted his wings and used them to shield himself and his friend from the rest of the falling debris that removing a large chunk of floor had dislodged. He looked up and saw the rest of the spiders peering down the hole and preparing to follow them down. The fall would be nothing for them.  
  
The Jabberwocky decided he had one more chance left. He reeled back, lifted his head, and from his mouth shot a blast of flames, torching the spiders around the hole, and forcing them to back away.  
  
Back upstairs, Gregor had quickly managed to open the book and scramble back inside before the spiders could reach him. Let them deal with the beast for him.  
  
"We're getting out of here," the beast turned boy announced, scooping Uranus up in his arms and dashing for the window. He took a leap out, and flapped his wings wide, gliding down to the ground outside the castle where Alice had landed.  
  
Sailoruranus, however, had a situation that was deemed far worse than spiders. For you see, being a puppet she was composed entirely out of wood. So, not only was she scared out of her mind now, but as she caught her breath still being held by the Jabberwock, a single piece of her wild red hair fell in her face. And then she realized something: it was on fire.  
  
"Nnnnergh--ugh--aaagh--!!" She swatted frantically at the strand of her hair, her eyes wide as saucers. "Did you have to use FIRE?!?!" Her voice was noticably higher than usual, deft with frantic energy. She tore herself from his arm and tumbled over, flapping against the ground like a fish out of water. Water! Oh, why couldn't they have landed in a puddle?  
  
"Sorry about that," the Jabberwocky apologized, grabbing Uranus and holding her still. "Hang on." He took another deep breath, and this time, he let out another stream of air, that unlike his flaming breath of before, was cold and chilling. The fire was quickly put out, and little bits of snow were now present in her hair, but that was quickly being melted by the warmer air.  
  
Sailoruranus took a big sigh of relief. "I'mokaynow." She turned and looked at the Jabberwock, her eyes blazing. "Don't EVER do that again!"  
  
"I already said I was sorry. At least we got away from the spiders," he reasoned, looking around to find Pluto, and to ensure that no spiders had decided to join them down on the ground. "What now?"  
  
"I personally-hfft-suggest we get the hell away from the Castle of Count Tarantula and find Sailorneptune," Alice's, she had returned to normal form, voice echoed across the hall. "Maybe suggest to King Wendell to hire a few royal exterminators." Her shrug was minute, her arms wrapped around her aching ribcage.  
  
Sailoruranus spun her marionette like a baton before tucking it under her arm, her sailor uniform turning into thousands of strings, before falling to her feet and disappearing entirely, leaving her civilian clothes behind. "Sounds like a good idea." Gio turned to their new ally, her glass eyes focusing on him, before turning away and beginning to walk towards the carriage. "Come on. Alice needs to get some help into the carriage, and you and I need to talk, Jabberwocky." Her voice was commanding, but far from cold.  
  
"Whatever," the Jabberwocky responded, proceeding to help Alice into the carriage.  
  
Well, this beats dying every day, the Jabberwocky reasoned to himself.  
  
Alice batted Jabberwocky. "I'm fine!" she growled, albeit it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself more than him, "I can... un... get into this-carriage!-myself!" She made various noises as she tried to heave herself into the passenger seat. Just as she almost made it, her foot slipped and she fell to the ground with a resounding cry.  
  
"Okay... Maybe I'm not fine," Alice admitted grumpily.  
  
*******  
  
She didn't have to turn around to know that Wolf was gone, hearing his hurried, fleeting footsteps moving through the open doorway and to the carriage. Backing up to block the passage between her companion's escape and the dangerous girl trying to stop them, Cécile positioned her body so that she could stand her ground. Lips pulling back in a snarl to reveal fang-like canines, she leaned forward with her fists up in preparation for a fight, one hand wavering close to her neck. The high pitched neigh of the horses and the clamber of hooves was the final notice that Wolf was out of harm's way. She didn't want to have to, but the tension was mounting and she could just smell the powerful magic radiating off of Richelle's body. Cécile growled again, "Who the hell are you, and why are you after the Four?"  
  
"The Four?" Richelle repeated stupidly, for the moment completely at a loss as to what was happening. "I'm not after anyone! Why are you two so evasive and obviously lying?" Richelle asked backing away and calmly placing her cup onto the table, then shoving it away. She stood up straight and met the snarling girl's eyes. "I was being a good hostess despite your 'Uncle' and your own rude behavior. I was *trying* to be civil and courteous as my parents would wish." she gave the girl a cold glare. "Obviously I was wrong and should have done this the first time."  
  
"Me? Rude? What did I do to you? I even offered to pay you back!" was the first thing that came to Cécile's mind, shouting indignantly at her. It wasn't as though she had been the thief -- certainly Wolf had gotten out of control, but she hadn't done a single thing but behaved like a courteous guest. Digressing, her behavior was hardly the point. "And if you're so innocent, why wouldn't you let us go?" She didn't move a muscle, continuing to block the doorway so that Wolf could get even further away from the house. She couldn't risk him getting caught, even if it wasn't clear whether this girl was lying or not. Cécile met Richelle's glare with one of her own, "Is that a *threat*?"  
  
"Who's threatening, you're the one blocking *my* front door!" Richelle pointed out. "I wouldn't let you go because you were lying. Grandma's house? Puh-lease! Even I'm not that trusting...wolves and grandma's and highly suspicious behavior... I've heard *that* before," Richelle told her, rolling her eyes.  
  
Rolling her sleeves up, as she didn't wish to dirty the cuffs while fighting, Richelle fervently hoped that she wouldn't need to transform. The whole process was rather indecent in her opinion and she didn't have her curtain to transform behind either. "Now please step aside so that I can find your so-called Uncle, drag him back here and call the law upon both of you."  
  
Cécile scoffed, narrowing her eyes at the younger girl, "Tch, sure! Like I'd do that because you asked me oh-so-very kindly?" She was sure by now that Wolf would be a safe distance away, but trying to follow him with Richelle watching her was going to be difficult. The baker had to snort at the comment of 'highly suspicious behavior'. "And here I was, thinking that somehow, the Fourth Kingdom was *nicer* to wolves! Typical." She told herself that she didn't really want to hurt the girl if she didn't have to, but she was getting annoyed at her and wouldn't have any qualms if she caused an injury or two. "You dumb humans... All the same! So unreasonable and so judgmental," Cécile spat at the girl.  
  
Slowly, Cécile took a step back, preparing to turn and make a run for it. Hopefully, Richelle would chase her instead of the carriage, and if not, Wolf would have the common sense to stay off the main road as best as possible. "But, you see, if you want to 'call the law' upon us, then you'll have to stop us first, girly!" With those words, Cécile lunged for a nearby vase and threw it towards Richelle. Not waiting to see whether the girl caught it or it smashed on the ground, the she turned and ran through the  
  
parlor.  
  
Richelle's eyes nearly popped out of her head when Cécile had picked up her mother's grandmother's empty urn (the ashes being deemed too dirty to keep in such a public place) and tossed it. For only the briefest moment she hesitated then dove for the urn, falling hard on her side and rolling with it protectively held in her embrace. Placing the urn safely on the cushions she got up, dusted herself off and ran to the door.  
  
"No way I can catch up with that girl..." she muttered watching Cécile disappear around a bend in the road. "No choice...blast!" whipping her hairpins out she screamed "In the name of Mercury...I will cleanse you of your impurities and make you pay for your cruelty!" and tried to banish the belief that she was twirling about nude.  
  
Standing straighter, Richelle crossed her hairsticks in front of her face (momentarily distracted by how dull the ends were getting of course) and watched as the room disappeared into an endless blue. Spinning backwards, her silhouette lengthened and turned midnight blue, while threads of ice covered her body to become her fuku. Her right knee curled to her chest, the ice exploding and showering the endless blue with shimmering shattered ice crystals. With a final assessing look, she spun back around, brandishing her hairsticks like glowing batons, and replaced them in her hair with a smile and momentary pose.  
  
After she had successfully changed and carefully checked the hairsticks in her hair, she ran out again and took a shortcut she knew would take her ahead of Cécile. "If all goes well, I will tie this girl up like a Christmas hog and have her fake uncle back before I'm due at the Widow's." Richelle muttered hopefully.  
  
*******  
  
She ran as fast and as far as her legs would take her, praying that the muscles wouldn't seize up from disuse before she was at least well into a forest or someplace she could take cover. Luckily, Cécile was an avid sprinter and had gotten a few good yards ahead of her pursuer. Needless to say, wearing a bright red coat wouldn't help her blend into the greenery, either. Reluctantly, she tossed it aside as she ran, hoping that she would get a chance to come back for it later. The girl eventually had to slow  
  
down, unused to the terrain and suddenly afraid of getting too deep into the woods. She had no idea where she was in the first place, and straying from the road was only going to inconvenience her further.  
  
Which meant that her only solution was to try and circle back -- even if that meant running into Richelle again.  
  
Out of breath, Cécile slowed down and stumbled a few feet further, moving towards a large tree with a conveniently large root to rest upon. After plopping herself down on the rough bark, hunched over in exhaustion, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Silence surrounded her, save for the occasional chirp of several birds perched above. She continued to listen, her own breath now soft and slow, the chattering of animals growing louder. Her ears twitched, picking up sounds from afar.  
  
A rustle of underbrush and the snap of a small twig being crushed beneath a foot caught her attention. Cécile had to give the other girl some credit for her determination, however foolish it was. Raising a hand to hover over her throat again, she opened her eyes and looked around. Her vision was acute, especially when she was in hunting mode. It wasn't difficult to sense the girl coming -- Richelle was so loud in comparison to the serene quietness of the forest creatures, and smelled of indoor cleanliness, a distinct odor against the earthy air. Turning the tables, Cécile was now the predator.  
  
She pulled the soft and worn strip of cloth from her neck, the material sliding free without ripping as she raised it above her head. Closing her eyes, she embraced the warmth of gentle flames wrapping around and licking at her flesh. But everything about this transformation felt so natural, and she resisted it far less than she had the first time -- this was *meant* to happen. Her eyes sprung open again as a heavy red cloak settled over her head and fell down her back.  
  
"The song of the wolves calls for me to condemn you, and so flames of justice will strike you down! I am Sailormars!" she heard someone shout out, and realized that it was her own voice, though it held a power within it that was unfamiliar. Reality soon came back into place and she took a moment to examine her outfit. After a few seconds of tilting her head at the peculiar get up, Sailormars turned around to face the direction that her prey-- Richelle, was coming from.  
  
*******  
  
Stumbling through some underbrush, Mercury stood straighter and dusted off her skirt. "This is ridiculous. She shouldn't know where she is, let alone how to get out of this forest. I should have just waited along the main road and surprised her." Mercury muttered.  
  
Pushing aside another branch, she paused, staring at the ground. A small smile lit her face up for a moment while she examined the obviously larger foot of that infernal girl. "Right. She went this way...careful now..." she whispered, doing the very un-soldier like thing by entering an enemy's known lair without so much as a wisp of plan.  
  
And what a foolish decision it was. As Mercury passed by a thick, looming oak, a rustling sound came from behind her. Several bushes shook gently, breaking her focus and causing the girl to turn and look at the source. Though hesitant to investigate, she warily took a step towards it, making as little noise of her own as possible. The bushes were still, and as Mercury was about to dismiss the movement as a small animal, the branches came to life again. She readied herself for attack, scanning the shuddering leaves with a cautious eye.  
  
The rustling began to changes its position, receding into another patch of underbrush in the direction that she came from. Confused, Mercury held her ground despite worrying that she might be letting her enemy get away. But instead of a girl, a couple of squirrels dashed out of the bushes and chased each other up a tree. She shook her head with a frustrated sigh.  
  
Turning back around to continue through the woods, suddenly a gloved fist came swinging at her face. Barely missing impact, Sailormercury stumbled backwards, foot sliding on fallen leaves and causing her to fall flat on her back. Dizzied, she looked upwards, seeing the red-edged silhouette of a cloaked figure. The light filtering in between the canopy of the trees blocked a face out, except for one, eerily familiar glowing golden eye.  
  
"Well, well, you just don't know when to give up, do you?" the transformed baker grinned, head tilted as she stood over her prey. Mars concealed her confusion at Richelle's outfit underneath a smug expression, her distrust increasing now that her fears were confirmed: Richelle was a wielder of strong, dangerous magic.  
  
"No, I don't!" Mercury retorted, managing to kick out and sweep Mars off her feet. The other soldier landed on the ground across from Mercury, though caught herself with her hands. Upper body propped up, as Mercury scrambled to get back to her feet, Mars quickly managed to spring forward and capture one of Mercury's legs. She yanked the girl back to the ground, Mercury letting out a quiet shout of surprise. But it wasn't just that she had fallen again that caused the shout, but she was still shocked over Cécile's appearance.  
  
As Mars was getting to her feet, Mercury began to sit up again, and barely managed to stand up and jump back as Mars took another swing at her. "Wait!" Sailormercury protested, holding her arms up to protect herself as Sailormars continued to try to land a punch on her opponent.  
  
"Stop that!" Mercury protested, stumbling back as she tried to deflect, or at the least, dodge Cécile's (she was laboring under the assumption that it was Cécile in front of her now) attacks. Whipping out her hairsticks, Mercury stood and started 'knitting' (she had no other name for it) the one attack she knew. "ICE WALL!" she screamed severing the icicle threads and casting the wall in front of her while Mars prepared to punch her once more.  
  
Waiting a split second to see if the 'wall' held or not, Mercury sighed a breath of relief and started running for all her might to the main road. *Okay let's think about this rationally, what do I know? Cécile seems to have extraordinary powers too, she seems to be a much better fighter and most likely doesn't like me too greatly at this moment.* Mercury paused, barely having to look up to find her way through the trees and shrubbery. She had grown up in these woods, after all. *Enemy? Hmm...most of the monsters I've met with want to kill me, not beat me blue. So maybe...* the end of the thought made her freeze and turn around to stare down the path to where she had left Cécile.  
  
"She's like me...." she murmured. "She's a-a-a whatever I am also!" Eyes widening, she absently thought that at any other time this would have overjoyed her. As of this moment, her so-called 'comrade' wanted her bleeding -- badly. "Regrets are for the dead..." she muttered grimly jogging back the way she came. "Convince her and things'll be better. Simple. I mean, what else could she possibly think I am?" With that semi- reassuring platitude in mind she slowed her pace and worked out what to say to a probably very angry girl.  
  
Caught off guard by the attack, Sailormars took a step back from the chilly barrier that came forth from the other soldier. Her head spun round warily like a wild animal, and she sniffed the air. The ice was laced with the familiar, but undetectable with a human nose, scent of magic. With a snarl, Sailormars began to attack it directly, punching and clawing. When that seemed hopeless, she rammed her full weight into the clear blockade to see if it would weaken with pure physical brutality. However, the 'ice wall' was well-constructed, and far less fragile than it looked. But she wasn't beaten just yet -- not only was she unwilling to be trapped and unable to help Wolf, she was unwilling to lose to the girl. Closing her eyes, she reached into the power that was given to her.  
  
Clasping her hands together, Mars felt heat growing between her palms, painless and soothing against the cold that the wall was radiating. Soon, she felt a rough stone between her fingers. In what little room to move that there was, she bent over and the rock was engulfed in a small flame. Rearing back, she swiftly moved her body and threw the stone, shouting, "Asteroid HAIL!" Each little fragment struck the ice wall with a loud sizzle, passing through with ease. The holes made the ice look as thin and delicate as a spider's web, leaving it easy to break through.  
  
Swinging her arm, Mars' punch landed right in the middle of the ice, breaking a hole large enough for her to walk through. She didn't bother to look back at what she had done, feral instinct driving her forward to her enemy. Standing not but a couple of meters away was Sailormercury. The two bruised and slightly battered soldiers stood still, neither moving any closer or any farther from each other. A deathly silence hung in the air. It was as though the entire forest was holding its breath.  
  
"Stop," said Mercury calmly, somewhat out of breath, holding up her hands in peace.  
  
Mars flinched at her movement, though no attack came as she had expected. She tilted her head, a growl slipping into her voice, "Why should I? For more of your tricks?"  
  
"No! We're not...we're not supposed to be fighting each other!" Mercury shouted back. Their voices echoed in the trees, shouts going back and forth.  
  
"Says who? You're after Wolf and I can't allow that to happen!"  
  
"I never said I was after him!"  
  
"Liar!" Mars lunged forward and Mercury jumped back in surprise, the distance between remaining the same.  
  
"I was only after you because you were behaving suspiciously! Like a pair of criminals!" Richelle protested in defense of her own actions, trying to reason as best as possible. But at this rate, it seemed as though Cécile would never listen to her.  
  
"Well, you assumed wrong!" Cécile retorted, her body tense to the point of shaking slightly. She clenched and unclenched her fists and sighed, turning her head away for a moment. Through grit teeth, she muttered, "Huff puff... Just because we're wolves... Everyone -- EVERYONE thinks we're out to kill, maim, steal, poach -- well, I've never done any of that! I've been a good person all my life!" The anger seemed to flare up in the girl's eyes, the golden one seemingly more threatening than the other. Then, her look softened, now more hurt than malicious.  
  
"It wasn't because you were wolves," Mercury said with a slightly defensive tone. "My parents didn't raise me to be prejudiced against people just because they are a certain type," she told her.  
  
"I just wanted to ask you about..." Mercury waved her hand towards her outfit. "Don't you notice something a little familiar?" she asked pointing to her own. "Perhaps -- and please don't hit me again -- there is a reason behind it?" When Cécile didn't comment, Richelle tried another tact. "How exactly did you find out?" Richelle tried to remember how she found out and then pushed the memory away. Not exactly the best of circumstances, she admitted ruefully to herself.  
  
Cécile turned away again at recalling how she 'found out', as Richelle had put it. Her body seemed to seize up convulsively, expression stiff and grim as she was lost in thought of the past. A past she wanted to bury, though it seemed to haunt her all the time. Suddenly, she spoke sharply, "That," as she looked back at Richelle, "Is none of your business." Biting her lip, she looked the girl over, revealing little reaction to the statement. They were alike, more than Cécile wanted them to be. "And...if you're implying what I think you're implying... Why should I believe it?"  
  
"Well, it is a logical assumption," Richelle insisted under her breath. "We have similar powers, semi-similar outfits, and if I miss my guess, do you often find the urge to fight monsters bent on destruction?" Richelle guessed trying to find reasons why they were comrades. Even she doubted it, but maybe Cécile was on the side of good. "I fight for good...well more precisely honor and the prevention of cruelty." As a last ditch effort she said, "My name is Sailormercury."  
  
"Sailormars. Or at least that's what I've been calling myself when I transform... Not that I had a choice in the title, though," added Cécile as an afterthought. She seemed to have calmed down, poise no longer rigid and on the offense. "I don't exactly fight for anything... At least, I'm not sure yet. All I know is that...I should use my powers to protect," her eyes looked to the ground, as though searching the ground for answers. She turned her gaze up again. "But I certainly am *not* some crime fighting vigilante," she murmured coolly, poking a bit of sarcasm at Richelle. Still full of wary skepticism, the baker-turned-fighter was not yet fully convinced that they were allies. After all, not moments before the two girls had been fighting vigorously, and all of a sudden Richelle had a change of heart. Perhaps it was cynical of her, but Cécile had every reason to lack faith in people these days...  
  
Feeling a little better -- at least she assumed she wouldn't be attacked again -- Richelle sighed. "Let's get back to my house. Neither of us want to be caught out in these...outfits, if a villager sees us. We can discuss this while we clean up the mess we both made."  
  
*******  
  
Retreating to Richelle's house, which had been in a messy state as Cécile whipped through it in her escape, the two girls worked together to clean it up before settling down in the kitchen. Nursing tender spots with packets of ice, Richelle and Cécile sat in silence. Three half-eaten meals sat cold on the table (though the plate belonging to Wolf held less than half), glaring up at the two as they sat across the table from each other. A treaty had been formed, decidedly temporary at the moment, as neither one was completely used to the idea that they were meant to be allies. Trust was difficult to bridge when you were attempting to kill each other less than a half hour ago.  
  
The quarter wolf pressed the bundle close to her sore knuckles, cubes contained within the cloth rattling against each other. The fight had left both of the girls weary and in a disarray. Even though they had transformed, that still didn't prevent some of the wounds from staying after they returned to their normal states and shed their peculiar garments. During the travel back and the fixing of Richelle's parlor, Cécile had managed to make herself explain the situation with Wolf. Though she wasn't entirely sure if it was a wise choice, she needed all of the help she could get at this rate. Carriage-less and without any knowledge of where her protectee was at, it was clear that the baker wasn't going to get far on her own.  
  
"So... What are we going to do?" Cécile asked hesitantly, especially when it came to using the pronoun 'we'. She still didn't know what to think of Richelle, or what Richelle thought of her.  
  
Richelle chewed her lower lip, relieved to be in her everyday clothes once more, but hesitant as to what to do about Cécile -- Sailormars. Her apparent ally against whatever those things were. "We need to catch up with Wolf. Explain things to him and then get to the castle." Richelle mused, talking mostly out loud to organize her thoughts and actions easily. "He's a long way off by now..."  
  
"Some sort of transportation?" Cécile suggested, as wary as Richelle herself was.  
  
Richelle nodded. "Once at the castle it will be easy enough to gain entrance-- my parents are after all famous and go there quite often. We need horses...and a cart. Definitely a cart. Be easier to travel if we're not conspicuous by just riding along the road." Thinking for a moment, she realized the only place she could get the horses and cart without too much trouble--and questions about her appearance, Cécile's sudden appearance, her traveling to the castle...--was Maya's.  
  
Sighing she stood and looked resignedly at Cécile. "We'll go to my friend's house. I can easily get us whatever we need there," throwing on a cloak, she motioned to Cécile to follow her. "Wear mother's old cloak-- we need to cover up as much as we can of our...injuries." Nodding in agreement, Cécile gingerly took the cloak into her hands, though hesitated to put it on. She had retrieved her trusty old jacket in the woods, now covered with rotted bark and leaves, on their way back to the house. It seemed to cover up the marks, but it was too unclean to hide that there had been some sort of rough and tumble. Reluctantly, she draped the article over her shoulders and followed Richelle.  
  
Once settled, Richelle lead the way briskly towards Maya's home. Slipping through the garden wall, Richelle was both relieved and bemused to find Maya and two of her brothers out and about. "Maya! I have a need of a favor!" she called waving to the two boys -- two of the semi-older ones. Taking note of the new people, Cécile subtly slipped a hand through her hair to conceal her left eye again.  
  
Whatever Maya said she got over to Richelle and Cécile quickly enough. "What? Richen, you're--" Richelle slapped a hand over Maya's mouth and made a quiet motion. "Not a word. I don't need your brothers worrying over me. This is Cécile...a friend after a fashion. Cécile, my best friend Maya." The baker nodded politely, muttering a friendly greeting with a forced smile. Introductions done, Richelle dragged Maya a bit away from Cécile. "I need your brother's cart and draft horses."  
  
Maya blinked, tried to look at Cécile then stared at Richelle with something close to astonishment. "What are you doing Richelle?" Maya asked. "You hate the horses--and that girl...did you two get into a *physical* fight?"  
  
Once again, Cécile had been left out of the conversation regarding the means by which they were traveling. First with Wolf, and now with Richelle. A part of her disliked this not knowing what was going on. For all she knew, the other girl could've been getting them into trouble just as Wolf had done in the tavern. Remembering her hometown, a foreign sense of longing and nostalgia washed over her. She had very rarely gone outside of the Second Kingdom in her short lifespan, and Richelle's introduction of her 'best friend' made her feel even more lonely. Not that Cécile ever had a best friend to miss at the moment, but the fact that she had left behind virtually all that she ever knew to go on some crazy quest. She quickly shrugged the feeling off, however, and watched the friends speak to each other.  
  
"Maya! Enough! We both merely fell while searching for her uncle...that is why we need the cart and horses. Cécile mentioned he wanted to go to the Castle and what with the recent rumors I thought it would be better if we found him first." Richelle snapped irritated. In a softer tone she said, "I promise its nothing dangerous. I just want to see if my parents are at the castle...Cécile and her uncle need to go for a similar reason, so we agreed to travel together." Lies, lies, lies...the word danced around in Richelle's head, making her cringe.  
  
Maya searched Richelle for a moment, knowing she was lying, but unable to face the truth of what that would mean. Maya realized Richelle seemed to 'fall' a lot lately and her absence from the house was becoming more frequent too... "All right Richen. I will get the horses and cart for you," she murmured, turning away and trudging back to her brothers.  
  
"Maya..." Richelle called, but when her friend didn't turn, Richelle bit her lip and moved back towards Cécile. "She's getting the horses and cart. Come on." Richelle muttered to Cécile. Following the other girl, the baker sighed, "I hope Wolf's all right..." Even if he wasn't really her uncle, she still felt a strong responsibility for him -- after all, someone *did* try to assassinate him and his family, and even King Wendell was in trouble. Meanwhile, she had fought the wrong person and if she was lucky, there wouldn't be consequences for getting thrown off course. Every minute counted, especially since they had no idea exactly who or what was after the Four, and when they would strike next.  
  
********  
  
But she heard the words. She heard those words and she heard a million other words too, but she couldn't remember them. They were foreign to her, another language, one that was beautiful to the ear. She could speak it, but couldn't understand it. And words fell from her mouth, like song, but she didn't know what she was saying.Shadows danced along an overwhelming light, like Eulalia was trying to stare down the sun. Slowly, things darkened and focused. The noblelady regained conscious. Doll like eyes blinked several times as she tried to collect her thoughts, but it hurt to think. She perked up though, as something caught her eye.  
  
Eulalia had woken inside of a humble room, warm now with a docile fire curled in the fireplace. It popped and roared quietly, casting orange light and dancing shadows around the tiny room. The area was complete with disorganized and very overstuffed bookshelves, a set of chairs (one of which was occupied), a small desk, and a bed with an array of quilts, under which the lady had been tucked, wounds properly wrapped. The bed sat under a window, which was challenging the fire's light with it's own signs of morning peeking over the trees of a small orchard.  
  
A small trail of discarded items, such as an overcoat, hair tie and pair of glasses, led up to the figure sitting in one of the chairs, in a position where the young man would supposedly be able to watch both fire and girl. However, the assumed rescuer was doubled over in his chair, long neck bent with his chin resting on his chest and arms folded weakly. The rescuer was tall and very thin, though long curly hair that had the crease of locks used to being pulled back obscured all of his face but a slightly protruding large nose.  
  
As soon as she saw him, whoever he was, Eulalia sat up--or rather, tried to. She was rewarded with a stab of pain from one of her shoulders, and thus fell back on an elbow with a tiny gasp. Though things were beginning to make sense now, she was still full of questions. For a moment, she didn't know how to say them, for another language took her lips, and that brought her back to the night before. Viator was much braver than Eulalia was, and the newly painted memories shook her. Finally, words came to her and she spoke, though it was little and labored.  
  
"Oh ..oh dear... where...?"  
  
At the sound of the young woman's voice, the man in the chair quickly jolted awake, startled out of his light slumber. Within a moment of waking, he had managed to jump forward just slightly in the chair, enough to send himselfoff of it's seat and onto the hardwood floor, which was hardly a satisfactory replacement for sleep and a nice piece of furniture.  
  
He groaned slightly while pulling his uncooperative body into a sitting position, looking up through unclear eyes and unkempt hair. Squinting at first, his eyes widened when he remembered who it was that had spoken, and how she had come to be there.  
  
"M-my lady, you're awake!" He stammered, standing hurriedly and reaching for his glasses.  
  
Ignoring the pain in her shoulder now, she moved forward, casting the blankets aside. Eulalia sat down on her knees on the edge of the bed, his glasses between her bare fingers. She looked up at him cautiously, her curiosity apparent on her pretty face. "Who are you, if I can pry...?" Her absinthe colored eyes blinked as unnaturally dark eyelashes brushed against her face, as Eulalia studied her supposed savior.  
  
"Please, lie down... You were hurt when I found you and..." he stopped, realizing a question had been directed at him. He fumbled for his glasses, avoiding her pretty stare shyly while he slipped them on his thin face. "T-terribly sorry, I am Icabod Crane. The schoolmaster here in Sleepy Hollow." He smiled just slightly and risked a glance at her. "Now that you know who I am... who are you? Why were you in that forest? It isn't... it isn't safe, you know..."  
  
"My name is..." She began as she draped her legs over the side of the bed, unpurposefully denying his half-spoken request to lie back down. The brown-haired girl looked up to him with renewed confidence. "My name is Eulalia Camilla." For some reason she didn't expect him to know her name, though she was a part of the elite aristocracy, and so she went on without a pause. She stood up, planting her tiny feet firmly on the ground--only for it to register how tall the man was. He was over a foot taller than her, and she wasn't sure if she should feel intimidated or not. The man was obviously gentile from as far as she had seen of him, but one could never be completely sure of these things.  
  
This obvious realization left her staring at him for a few moments without words, before her manners returned and she looked away quickly, alerting herself to the rumpled mess she had made of what she assumed was his bed, or at least a guest chamber in his home. With an almost automatic response she began to fold the bedclothes neatly back over surface of the bed, like a servant. Though, unlike a sevant, she went about the task with a smile onher face and a lightness in her feet. The new sunrise glinted through the windows, and made highlights in her hair shine like strands of frost on an early winter's morning. However, the most peculair thing about this Eulalia was that she cast no shadow, but this was probably just a trick of the morning light.  
  
"I was traveling," She began quietly, trying to think of a good, but not completely untrue explaination of why she had been out in the forest. "With my companion, Lady Dido, when our carriage was overturned by bandits. Before they could rob us, however, we escaped and ran as fast as we could..."  
  
So there was no carriage, but certainly someone had tried to rob them...of their heads, perhaps. She looked up and turned her head to the side, studying him to see if he believed her. Oh bother. Eulalia had never been the best of liars. "The rest is rather fuzzy... I ... must've hit my head against a tree limb, or tripped over a root of an old tree and went unconscious. But Lady Dido must've went on without me--perhaps she went to get help." She bit her lip, going over the explaination once more in her head. It seemed fair enough.  
  
"So I see... Bandits, that's horrible. I pray for your friend's safety." He muttered, wringing his hands with a desire to usher her back into bed, but was at the moment unsure as to how polite that would be. However, at seeing her begin to fold the bedding, he took one long-legged step that likened him to the bird of his namesake, bearing himself over to the bed. He gently moved to take the blankets from her to fold them himself, and while Icabod was not nearly as neat and delicate as the petite Eulalia, the intent was there.  
  
"Lady Camilla, I beg that you at least sit. You've been hurt, and thank God you're still alive and well. When I saw you..." He faltered and failed to complete the thought verbally. Instead, his eyes flickered to her face and then down once more, and the rings under his eyes from a lack of sleep seemed to deepen. "Those woods are not to be trusted at night, or even in daytime. Terrible things are in them... I've heard all the stories."  
  
"One cannot live their life in fear," replied Lady Camilla. Without missing a beat she did indeed sit down--on the floor, to avoid rumpling the freshly made bed. She showed little defiance about this, though, tilting her head upwards to rest on her bare knuckles as she studied him. "'Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil...'" She quoted.  
  
He was obviously a Christian man, Eulalia noted, which was something of a rarity in the nine kingdoms, though not entirely unheard of. Eulalia frowned as she studied him, not disapprovingly though it could've been taken that way, but concerned. Were the rings under his eyes from the burden of taking her from the forest?  
  
Upon hearing the passage she recited, he turned and smiled softly at her. "Yes, I suppose you are right. Tempting fate can be a risky business, though." He finished straightening the bed, smoothing it out slowly. He then turned to Eulalia and extended a hand to her to help her stand.  
  
"Take one of the chairs, please. I assure you, they're much more comfortable than the floor." He was slightly confused and distressed at his lady guest's quiet denials to rest for her wound's sake. The thought of her being hurt any further, even is such a minimal matter, was a worry that clawed the back of his mind. "I can bring you breakfast if you're hungry," he added as an afterthought, "since I'm sure you're still tired from what happened last night."  
  
To be honest, Eulalia hadn't thought about breakfast between waking up in a stranger's room and her concern for Dido. Poor Dido. Where would she be, without 'Lala' to lead her by the hand? Was she safe? Did the mission fail, or did Miss Adrienne find her in time...? With new found worry, Eulalia shook her head. "I couldn't dream of eating right now..." But she did take his hand and stood up, and found herself sitting in a chair he had offered. That was only polite.  
  
Once settled and done with brushing the wrinkles from her dress, she folded her hands over themselves, unaware the wounds inflicted on them. Tilting her head to look at him, a strand of her hair fell in her face before she realized her lack of consideration. Of course, he probably wouldn't eat unless she did, and she had just declined. He was so thin, too, and so her eyes dropped to the side, looking at a corner again. "Of.. of course...Master Crane, if you're hungry...of course, that is to say...I-I don't mind, I mean.." She froze and fumbled for the words.  
  
"O-oh, n-no, Lady Camilla, I'm fine as is. I... just had to ask... to make sure..." He struggled to find something accurately polite and convincing to say to her. "If you're not hungry, then the next thing we can do is see if your friend arrived... L-lady Dido, correct?" He fidgeted with his glasses, feeling entirely embarrassed and awkward as he avoided looking at Eulalia's face. He honestly had no idea where Dido could have gone off to, imagining apetite looking young lady like his guest, appearing more or less helpless. He strained his memory, but found only guesses and possibilities that led to the worst of ends.  
  
"Yes, that would be the most logical thing to do," Eulalia said as she regained her composure. "Yes. We were on important business, dear Dido and I, so perhaps she went to deliver the message without me. Or to get help. Dido is... well, she's a bit more intimidating than I am physically, but if someone would find her and take advantage of her..." Her eyes clouded up with tears. "Oh, oh dear. My poor friend Dido. To think, I was supposed to help you.."  
  
Icabod creased his eyebrows, showing deep concern. "Please, do not worry Lady Camilla. I promise I'll help you find your friend if it is at all possible." He wrung his hands quietly, wondering where the could even begin to look. If she was lost in the woods, she could have easily just ran off further into it's depths, or perhaps never made it at all. The young man shuddered slightly, looking strained once more. "Do you have any idea where Lady Dido might have gone..? It might help in our search..."  
  
"We were supposed to arrive at King Wendell's castle this morning to discuss the decorations for the moon princess b...all." Eulalia clamped her hand over her mouth as if she had let out a dire secret, a single tear streaming down her cheek. "Oh dear. I wasn't supposed to mention that."  
  
"Moon princess ball..?" He repeated slowly, not understanding the significance of this. Upon seeing the tear and hearing the distressed toneof her voice, however, he immediately jumped to amend what he had heard. "Oh, lady, no, please... Do not cry. I don't understand what it exactly means anyway, so you needn't worry. I swear I won't utter a word to anyone if that's what you wish..." Icabod was confused and flustered by her reaction, truly befuddled as to why anyone would be overly concerned about the King holding another ball, as he didn't feel they were uncommon. Still, Eulalia's reaction did make him curious if nothing else, and perhaps it was special after all.  
  
"Oh, please, do that for me." She replied, dabbing her hand at the tear that touched her lips now. "I'm...I'm not supposed to tell anyone yet. I would be very much obliged. I'm so sorry. Terribly sorry.. it's just... I'm horribly shook up." Eulalia have laughed, half sobbed, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "This isn't how a lady should be acting at all."  
  
"The secret is safe with me, I swear..." He replied quickly, eager to calm her. He fumbled for a handkerchief, swiftly pulling it out of his vest pocket, and handed it to her shakily. "I won't utter a word about it, I promise. You have my word." Icabod silently pondered the meaning of the occasion, and had it not been for how heartbroken Eulalia seemed, he might have been tempted to ask further. But as things stood, he could not bear to upset her anymore, and vowed to keep his promise.  
  
The brown haired girl took the hankerchief and dabbed at her eyes with it, sniffling to herself. "Th-thank you. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't be so upset over this.. but everything has been go..going wrong lately. F-first the wolf g-got away...now I've lost Dido...I've disappointed everyone!" Eulalia paused to sob into the hankerchief. "Oh, just listen to me. I'm so sorry, Master crane. M-maybe I should just go... I've been such a bother."  
  
"No, lady, please, don't blame yourself. I think you've gone through a terrible lot lately, and it was beyond your powers, what happened." He tried to smile in the most reassuring way possible, though had the distinct feeling he just looked awkward. At the very least he was feeling awkward. "You're not a bother at all. And if you leave, Lady Eulalia, I'll feel it's my duty to come with you. I absolutely can't let you wander off on your own... especially after what happened to you last night. I'll help you get to the palace and find your friend. She must have continued that way..."  
  
"Oh, I do hope you're right," Eulalia said. "And..and thank you, Master Crane. I appreciate it so much..." She smiled through her tears, wringing his hankerchief in her delicate hands. "It's very kind of you."  
  
"You're very welcome. I feel it's the very least I could do." He smiled back at her, relaxing since she seemed now better than before. "Just tell me when you'd like to leave, and I'll make arrangements."  
  
Broken Fairy Tales: Soldiers of the Ten Kingdoms.  
  
Who is your favorite Broken Fairy Tale senshi? What do you think will happen next? Any input on our story is appreciated :D  
  
The chapters of this story are taken directly from a play-by-email by the same name. Each of the writers, including myself, have given consent to having their work published under this name, with due credit.  
  
'Allies', chapter six of Broken Fairy Tales, was written by Gena, Sushi, Jeff, Koi, Alex, and Ryu. Love you guys! 3  
  
This is a crossover between 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon', and the NBC/Hallmark miniseries 'The Tenth Kingdom', that aired in 1998/1999. 'Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon' and 'The Tenth Kingdom' do not belong to the people who wrote Broken Fairy tales and we do not claim rights to any of the aforementioned television shows. We do, however, claim rights to our original characters, the Soldiers of the Ten Kingdoms. They are copyrighted to their creators. 


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